How to Help Disaster Survivors in Texas

The compassion and generosity of the American people is never more evident than during and after a disaster. As many Illinoisans seek ways to help survivors of this heartbreaking disaster, here is some important information to ensure your support is most helpful to those in need.

The compassion and generosity of the American people is never more evident than during and after a disaster. As many Illinoisans seek ways to help survivors of this heartbreaking disaster, here is some important information to ensure your support is most helpful to those in need.

• The most effective way to support disaster survivors in their recovery is to donate money and time to trusted, reputable, voluntary or charitable organizations. This allows these organizations to obtain needed resources nearer to the disaster location, which reduces transportation costs and helps boost the local economy in the disaster-impacted area.

• Donate through a trusted relief organization. The Texas Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters has a list of vetted disaster relief organizations at http://txvoad.communityos.org/cms/node/104. A list of approved national organizations can be found on the National Volunteers Active in Disasters website at https://www.nvoad.org/.

• Please do not donate unsolicited goods, such as used clothing, miscellaneous household items, etc.  Unless specifically requested, these may not meet the needs of disaster survivors.

• The state of Texas is asking volunteers to not self-deploy, as unexpectedly showing up to any of the communities that have been impacted by Hurricane Harvey will create an additional burden for first responders. Potential volunteers are asked to register to volunteer with community- and faith-based organizations working in the field. Lists of those organizations can be found at http://txvoad.communityos.org/cms/node/104 and https://www.nvoad.org.

It’s important to remember that recovery from a disaster of this magnitude will take months, even years. So, too, will the need for generosity from caring Americans.