Beyond the Bay: How The Salvation Army Is Serving After Hurricane Harvey
We combat natural disasters with acts of God.
Last year, Hurricane Harvey swept through Texas, claiming 82 lives and costing around $125 billion dollars. In response, The Salvation Army sprang into action, launching one of its largest disaster relief operations in our history:
- We provided over 900,000 prepared meals and nearly 1 million snacks and drinks.
We provided lodging and showers for over 3,000 individuals.
Officers, employees, and volunteers gave 139,243 hours of their time
We managed the distribution of millions of items, including 2,700 blankets, over 5,000 Bibles, 69,981 clothing items, over 70,000 orders of infant supplies, 858 pet supplies, and more!
Now that the flooding has ebbed, our long-term rehabilitation work is just getting started. Right now, The Salvation Army Texas Division continues to support long-term recovery efforts in the hardest hit communities. Working with local community advocacy groups, The Salvation Army’s connected with families for casework assistance and distributed much-needed supplies in many of the affected rural areas. To date, more than 16,000 clients have been assisted.
Distribution of items such as food, water, clothing, personal hygiene and more has continued throughout the affected region with eight Salvation Army distribution centers still in operation.
So far approximately 4 million dollars worth of goods have been distributed, and in-kind donations are still being received.
In addition, we have partnered with various companies and organizations to ensure communities are receiving the care they need:
We are providing logistical and warehousing support to our partners including Catholic Charities, St. Vincent de Paul House in a Box program, and Trusted World.
We continue to roll out the JCPenney voucher program which allows clients to shop a dedicated Non-Profit Recovery Catalogue for household items, furniture, and appliances.
We are managing the utility assistance program for FEMA temporary housing as a collaborative project run in conjunction with the State of Texas General Land Office, FEMA, OneStar Foundation, and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, on behalf of the Rebuild Texas Fund. The program helps cover the cost of utilities for certain survivors.