Dear Jason,
"Do they even know we exist?"
That was the question Sarah asked me as we spoke on her front porch in the small town of Point, Texas earlier this week.
Like much of Texas, this neighborhood was without running water leaving residents to search for diminishing supplies of bottled water at stores in Point and the other small communities that sit in this beautiful stretch near Lake Tawakoni.
I'd just dropped off a half-pallet of distilled water at the Point city hall that we'd found at a Walmart in Waco and was now knocking on doors on 3rd Street when I met Sarah.
She told me about how hard it was to take care of her family (including two small boys) without being able to wash clothes, bathe, clean dishes or have ready access to clean drinking water. Compounding her distress was the fact that in the middle of one of the worst storms in Texas history she had received no warning about the power outages.
Given the underlying unaddressed challenges that existed in this rural town before the storm hit, she wondered if the lack of warning and response from the Texas government was more proof of their disinterest. That's not unlike what I found on the Westside of San Antonio or the unincorporated community of Hargill in the Rio Grande Valley. It's the kind of question I got in the small border community of Roma and later in Zapata, Laredo, Eagle Pass and Del Rio.
"Do they even know we exist?"
Everywhere I went in Texas I met people who were forced to endure the loss of electricity and water in the midst of record cold temperatures. Without warning they found that they could no longer heat their homes, prepare meals, find water or take care of medically-complex family members. For days they had no idea when they would get help or see services restored.
Many didn't make it. In the Houston area alone, more than 15 people froze to death, including an 11-year old boy.
To add insult to injury, instead of fixing the problem or consoling those who needed help, our Governor was on Sean Hannity's show blaming the Green New Deal. And Texas' two U.S. senators were not even in Texas for the duration of the storm and its aftermath.
That just makes me all the more grateful for good people throughout Texas, and beyond, who stepped up during this troubling time to help those in need. Neighbors checked on neighbors. Local restaurants delivered meals to those who couldn't leave their homes. Volunteers organized and did together what no one of them could do on their own. And people across America donated millions of dollars to food banks, shelters and community-based aid organizations.
Our Powered by People volunteers made over 985,000 phone calls to senior citizens during the worst of the storm and power outages. We were able to connect those seniors with warming centers, food, water and shelter. And just as importantly, we were able to provide some simple human kindness. Having a real person call to check in on you when you've been isolated without heat or food or human contact for days is a powerful thing.
Our Texas volunteers also knocked on thousands of doors to find those whom we couldn't reach by phone. We were able to see in person the water damage done by broken pipes and the desperate need created by the storm for so many, as well as listen to those who not only struggled during the storm but were struggling long before the storm hit.
The calls and visits made by our volunteers allowed us to better understand how we could most effectively help these families and neighborhoods. And thanks to you, we were able to raise more than $1.4 million to do this.
Here are some ways your donations have already been put to work:
In the hard-hit Rio Grande Valley, we've supported LUPE (La Union del Pueblo Entero), an organization the works closely with the farmworkers on whom we depend for our country's supply of food but who still live in significant poverty. LUPE got resources directly in the hands of people to use for food, water and for repairing pipes and homes damaged by the freeze.
We were able to fund Lone Star Legal Aid in Houston, a city that leads the country in evictions during the pandemic and which saw hundreds of eviction cases scheduled even after residents had struggled through the winter storm without power and water. This money will help keep more people in their homes during a week where there are nearly 600 eviction cases scheduled.
In San Antonio we were able to support Inner City Development, which is working to keep people in their homes and fund home repairs for those most in need.
In East Texas we funded One Love, which operates in low-income communities across Gregg, Upshur, Marion and Harrison counties. They have been providing storm relief support to families, including food, transportation and transitional living.
In Dallas we will be supporting Not My Son which has housed over 600 families who couldn't stay in their homes. They have helped storm and power victims to document the damage to their homes and apply for FEMA funds. They are also assisting with food, transportation, diapers, and even therapy.
In Austin we helped El Buen Samaritano to perform in-person welfare calls to identify needs with families who do not qualify for federal assistance. They distributed water to several hundred families and inventoried housing needs at same time. Our support ensures that those families get financial assistance to make repairs to their homes.
These are just five examples of the kinds of community-level organizations that we've been able to help with your support. We've donated to dozens more like them across the state, even as we continue to work with smaller communities to find local groups that can perform this kind of work in the parts of Texas that are so often overlooked.
We want all those who endured this storm and the failure from their state government to understand that they matter and are worth helping.
We join millions of our fellow Texans in demonstrating to our neighbors that we know you exist, that you are important to us, and that we're going to do everything we can to help you.
Thank you for making this possible.
Beto
