Parents & Caregivers
Follow the link for more information about this opportunity.
Winter Storm Resources-For Helping and Receiving Help
Mayor’s Office of Education
For live updates click this link
Resources for Senior Citizens
CLICK HERE for support from the American Leadership Forum to:
- transport vulnerable populations to a safe place
- delivered food, water, and other needed supplies.
Crowd Source Rescue: Focus on warming vulnerable seniors facing dangerous temperatures with space heaters and generators.
Resources for Differently-Abled
- Houston’s Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities is partnering with CrowdSource Rescue to deliver bottled water to people who are differently-abled and don’t have access to reliable transportation. Apply at http://crowdsourcerescue.org/freeze
Resources for Homeless
- Houston Area Women’s Center: Shelter and support services for victims of domestic violence. Phone: (713) 528-2121 or visit http://www.hawc.org/
- Star of Hope: The Star of Hope homeless shelter welcomes donations of toiletries such as lotion, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste and airbrushes, plus diapers (size 0) and pull-up diapers (size 4T and 5T), underwear for men and women (all sizes), towels and washcloths, twin size sheets and blankets. Sohmission.org
Resources for Immigrants
- Immigrant Disaster Resource Guide: bit.ly/ImmigrantDRG
Hotels
- CrowdSource Rescue: Will cover hotel for any TX people needing to pay for it if a nonprofit or organization reaches out to them. The nonprofit or organization should send an email to [email protected] with the details.
- Harris County Sheriff’s Office If you or someone you know is without shelter and in need of transportation, call the Harris County Sheriff’s Office at 713-221-6000 and let them know you are looking for transportation with the HOT Team.
SUPPLIES-Food, water, funds
- Mutual Aid Houston: Fill out this form if you are in need of immediate food or water due to the Houston freeze. Mutual Aid Houston will be distributing $100 via Venmo and CashApp until they hit their distribution limits. https://forms.gle/AWoSsA8L2Y5FJXXH8
- Free Meals for Young Children (from District H Newsletter)
Children under the age of 6 who live in 43 delivery zip codes are eligible for a Kids Meal Inc.’s free meals delivery program. Meals will also be provided for older siblings when school is out. More info on how to apply can be found here or by calling 713-695-5437 with any questions. The application is here in English or Spanish.
- Houston Food Bank helpline: 832-369-9390
- Water Distribution: Click here for a list of distribution sites
- FEMA announced federal emergency aid has been made available to individuals and business owners who sustained losses in the designated area. People can begin applying for assistance by registering online at http://www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-3362 or 1-800-462-7585 TTY.
- Memorial Assistance Ministries Financial Assistance: Financial Assistance Apply online or by phone in English (713) 574-7533 or Spanish (713) 574-7536. Must be low income and live in MAM’s zip code service area: 77008, 77009 , 77018 , 77022 , 77024, 77037, 77039, 77040, 77041, 77043, 77055, 77076, 77079, 77080, 77088, 77091, 77092.
HOME REPAIRS
- Crisis Cleanup: Register online at https://www.crisiscleanup.org/login?from=%2F or call 844-965-1386 to request help with cleanup or building. Volunteers will contact you when they have resources to help. Flier contains more information in Spanish and English.
- Greater Houston Builders Association: List of members here (searchable by the type of professional you need): https://members.ghba.org/memberdirectory
- Disaster resource page to help homeowners rebuild with confidence. Articles on the page cover topics from tips for avoiding scammers when contracting for repairs to documentation for insurance best practices: https://www.ghba.org/disaster-resources/
MENTAL HEALTH
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: Call (800) 273-8255 for English or (888) 628-9454 for Spanish.
- Crisis Intervention Hotline of Houston: For 24/7 confidential crisis counseling. Call the general line at (832) 416-1177 or (832) 416-1199 for the Teen Talk Hotline. You can also visit crisishotline.org
- Mental Health Support Line: This new service helps callers 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Call (713) 558-3777.
WARMING CENTERS
CLICK HERE for list of Warming Centers from the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston
Other Warming Centers:
- Foster Family YMCA, 1234 W 34th St
- YMCA, 5202 Griggs Rd
- Gallery Furniture, 6006 North Freeway or 7227 W. Grand Parkway South
- Lakewood Church, 3700 Southwest Freeway
- National Association Church, 1605 Air Center Blvd, Phone: 832-626-7111
- The warming center has a capacity to hold up to 500 people and is accepting pets.
- Those who need help finding a warming center, are experiencing homelessness or who are medically dependent on power may call 3-1-1 for assistance. Those outside the city of Houston can call 713.837.0311.
Report Price Gouging: To report price gouging or other disaster scams call 800-621-0508 or file a complaint online athttp://txoag.force.com/CPDOnlineForm.
Track Power Outages: You can track power outages at CenterPoint’s outage tracker: http://gis.centerpointenergy.com/outagetracker/index.htm
Advocacy: Make a public comment on power outages and response to the Texas Senate.
VOLUNTEER OR DONATE
- Volunteer Houston assists agencies who are looking for volunteers throughout Houston. For information, go to volunteerhou.org.
- The Houston Food Bank needs nonperishables such as peanut butter, canned proteins, protein bars and other things that don’t require cooking. To register for volunteer work or to make a donation visit www.houstonfoodbank.org or call 713-547-8604.
- Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston: This agency administers programs ranging from Meals on Wheels to Animals, and offers refugee services and promotes interfaith and community partnerships. The facilities are closed through the end of the week, but for future volunteer opportunities or to make a donation go to imgh.org.
- Salvation Army: Offers a variety of services from disaster relief to homeless shelters, food pantries, job training and rehab. Salvationarmyusa.org
- Text-to-Give Campaign Benefitting Houston Food Bank: Text ABC13 to 41444 to make a donation of any amount
- Donate Blood with the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center: The severe winter weather has caused planned blood drives to be cancelled. Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center Headquarters: (713) 790-1200 or 1 (888) 482-5663
- Coalition for the Homeless: working with governmental entities to ensure needs of people experiencing homelessness are met as cold front impacts our region
- Lucille’s 1913 Community Kitchen: To help them with preparing and distributing hot meals for those in need, go to the website for donation and volunteer information. Venmo [email protected], Paypal [email protected]
- Participate in a Supply Drive: Cajun Navy and Cajun Commissary have partnered with Gallery Furniture to organize a supply drive and distribution. They are asking for bottled water and non-perishable food and blankets.
- Bread of Life Disaster Relief Assistance Fund: Beyonce and her BeyGOOD Foundation are partnering with Bread of Life and Adidas. Bread of Life Disaster Relief Assistance Fund offers “one-time financial assistance to those who’ve experienced a sudden or emergency-related financial hardship due to an unforeseen or unavoidable event.
- Act Blue: 100% of your donation will automatically be split between these organizations on the ground providing immediate relief:Family Eldercare, Corazon Ministries, Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley, Central Texas Food Bank, Houston Food Bank, Food Bank of West Central Texas, The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center, North Texas Food Bank, Southeast Texas Food Bank, Feeding Texas, South Texas Food Bank, and ECHO (Ending Community Homelessness Coalition)
News Articles
February is Black History Month, a commemoration that began as a weeklong observance in the late 1920s but was never meant to be confined by days on a calendar, and even though it was indeed a celebration it was also always meant to highlight the kinds of critical reflection and contemplation fundamental to the recovery of Black history. In that spirit, I want to briefly relay a calendar of events related to work in African American life and history — occasions taking place virtually at Rice in the weeks ahead, and also at other virtual venues featuring members of the Rice community. I think you’ll find the events below informative and thought-provoking. This kind of work, bearing on critically important issues in Black life and history, is continuously underway at the university, and February is always a particularly good time to get to know more of it.
Below are events, you can participate in as you are looking to learn and grow.
Feb. 22
3 p.m.
“Rockwell Lecture: Alumni Panel” with Stephen Finley, associate professor at Louisiana State University; Biko Gray, assistant professor at Syracuse University; and Margarita Guillory, associate professor at Boston University.
Feb. 25
Noon
“Rockwell Lecture: Confronting Structural Racism as Human Suffering” with Rhonda V. Magee, professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law.
Feb. 25
Join Rice’s Center for African and African American Studies, the Rice Department of History and the Department of Multicultural Community Relations in Rice’s Office of Public Affairs for a virtual lecture by Ya’Ke Smith, an award-winning filmmaker who also serves as an associate professor in the Department of Radio-Television-Film at the University of Texas. For more information contact Jan West: [email protected].
Feb. 26
1:30 p.m.
“Dangerous Creole Liaisons” with Jacqueline Couti, the Laurence H. Favrot Associate Professor of French Studies the Department of Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures, associate director of the Center for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality, and affiliated faculty at the Center for African and African American Studies at Rice; Grégory Pierrot, associate professor of English at the University of Connecticut at Stamford; and Anny-Dominique Curtius, associate professor of Francophone studies at the University of Iowa.
March 4
4 p.m.
Campbell Lecture on Racial Justice: “The Stakes of Racial Justice and the Future of American Democracy” with Eddie Glaude Jr., chair of African American studies at Princeton University, eminent scholar of African American history and religion, and prominent critic and C-SPAN and MSNBC commentator on racial justice.
March 10
6 p.m.
“What if Black Women Have Always Been the Vanguard of Voting Rights?” with Martha S. Jones, Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor and professor of history at Johns Hopkins University and its SNF Agora Institute.
March 10-April 21
7-8:30 p.m.
Facing Race: Racism, Resistance and Reckoning in the United States course from the Glasscock School of Continuing Studies.
The Harvard Graduate School of Education is highlighting the research of esteemed Black education scholars as they discuss their commitments to racial justice in education and research.
This is a community inclusive and open event, so please invite faculty, staff, students, family, friends, and community members within and outside of academia!
Please see below and the flyer attached to learn more about our panelists and their critical scholarship
If you are a high school student or the parent/guardian of a high school student, college might already be on your mind. In preparing for the future, you want to take advantage of every present opportunity.
During the Spring Semester, Education & Charities Foundation of Houston (ECFOH) will be hosting College Readiness Workshops for high school students. These workshops will cover a numbers from top industry professionals. If you are interested, please click here to register.
To learn more about Education & Charities Foundation of Houston, check out their website.
Now available as part of Amaanah’s Immigrant Health Initiative (IHI) in collaboration with Schweitzer fellows from UT Health, you can now check out the series on IHI’s YouTube channel.
The videos are available in English, Spanish and Arabic. While the first part is dedicated to tips on how to eat healthy, the second highlights some of the available resources including government assistance programs and the work of some local non-profits.
Please feel free to share the videos and check out Amaanah’s site for more services!
March for Our Lives Houston (MFOLH) has been doing very valuable work in the fight for children’s safety. We wanted to pass on their most recent newsletters (attached in English and Spanish). Please read and share this with youth, parents, and networks.
In addition, March for Our Lives Houston are collecting experiences of people who have been affected by gun violence. Please support their work by reading the message below from Mr. Holladay, Communications Sublead of MFOLH, and help us spread the word.
We invite you to subscribe to their bimonthly newsletter! In their newsletter, they share current projects, upcoming events, and different action items that continue in order to further their activism. We hope you will consider subscribing! You can subscribe via their website at mfolhouston.org.
Additionally, one of their goals this year is to expand community outreach by magnifying the voices of those who have had experiences with gun violence, rather than speaking over them. Their first action is to ask readers fill out the attached google form if they would be interested in sharing any experiences, they have had with gun violence for publication in our newsletter. If you have any family members, friends, or coworkers who you believe would be willing to share their story, please forward this to them!
Google Form: https://forms.gle/wEp8wKazorg13cei8
Do you work with someone who you find OUTSTANDING in the out-of-school time field? Are you part of a program that has done STUPENDOUS work during this pandemic. Are you a shining star in your work place?
If you answered yes to any one of these questions, then please nominate yourself, your program, or your colleague to be recognized for their achievements and commitment to this field.
For more information, please reach out to Kathy Evans, [email protected].
BakerRipley Neighborhood Tax Centers
Now, that the holiday season is over, we move in to that time of year again- TAX SEASON!
The Baker Ripley Neighborhood Tax Centers are now offering virtual tax preparation. They are also offering in person preparation at one of their 11 locations by appointment only. In order to keep everyone safe, social distancing and masks are required. All information on how to sign up can be found here: www.freetaxcenters.org
If you are eligible but did not receive one or either of your stimulus checks (Economic Impact Payments), you will need to file this on your tax return and may be eligible to receive a Recovery Rebate Credit. The tax centers can assist you with that. The tax centers will not have information on the status of your payment but you can utilize the “Get My Payment” tool on the IRS website to check on the status – https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment
United Way SAVE
We are offering again this year United Way SAVE, which is a matched savings program. If you file your taxes through the tax centers and qualify for a refund, you are eligible to open a free savings account with Houston Metropolitan Credit Union. If you save anywhere between $100-$1,000 of your refund in that account through January 2022, you will be matched 25% of what you save (with a maximum match of $250). That’s a great way to boost your savings and reach those 2021 savings goals!
The Center of the Healing of Racism is celebrating the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr with two extraordinary women discussing how we can internalize Dr. King’s message of hope and healing. A facilitated dialogue will follow.
This is a free event but donations are welcome.
- When is the event: Monday January 18th
- Time of event: 6pm – 8pm
- Register by Sunday January 17th.
- Speakers: Dee Gardner, founder of Gardner Counseling Services, is a licensed psychotherapist, a professional speaker, educator, workshop facilitator, trauma treatment consultant and author. And Sally Bartolameolli, M.Ed., M.F.A., is a certified Shadow Work facilitator, transformational coach, author, speaker, teacher, and founder of LORA Bridges – Building Bridges for Transformation
Browse Resources
Resources for Parents & Caregivers
- Surviving to Thriving: The World Through My Eyes
- MOE: Winter Storm Resources
- Black History Events @ Rice University
- Black Ed Scholars Speak
- College Readiness Workshops with ECFOH
- Video Series on Nutrition & Health
- March for Our Lives Houston
- CASE for Kids: 2021 Spirit of Excellence Awards and Recognition Program
- BakerRipley Neighborhood Tax Centers & United Way SAVE
- A Celebration of Dr King’s Birthday, by Zoom