Hurricane Harvey’s Clean Up Begins

We have identified 20 MOMS Club members in the Hurricane Harvey area who may need assistance from the Mother-To-Mother Fund.  

Damage ranges from roof leaks to total loss of home and belongings.  Several of our moms’ families were evacuated by boat. 

One mom’s new-mother intuition kicked off just in time to wake her husband and throw some clothing in a suitcase with one arm while nursing her 4-day old baby in the other arm, so they could drive out just ahead of car-stalling waters flowing into their home.  Now, she and the children are living with her family in Michigan while her husband tries to navigate the tricky insurance/reconstruction waters in Houston.  It looks like, even though they had flood insurance, that the amount of damage is double the amount of the coverage and their home may be totaled.

Another mother’s family headed north before the storm because, while they didn’t think their apartment would flood, they were concerned that their son would need his oxygen for his breathing difficulties and were afraid that the storm might knock out power to their area.  The husband tucked his family into a Waco hotel and went back to survey the damage after the storm — their apartment was totaled.  Husband is living with friends while he’s back at work, and the rest of the family is in Chicago

Many of the other families are doing the renovations on their homes themselves.  Some had flood insurance; some did not.  Some managed to get their cars to high land; some lost both their vehicles.

We have been in touch with all the chapters in the affected area, and there may be a few more grant requests.  The application deadline for grant requests for this Hurricane is today — 9-18-17.  The Committee will then discuss the applications and make any applicable grants.

 

Hurricane Irma

We have not been able to reach all the chapters in Hurricane Irma’s path in Florida.  So far, we’ve only reached 15 of the 42 chapters in that area. 

While we continue to try to reach the board members so every chapter is accounted for, we know that the members in the Naples, FL, area were particularly hard hit. Those that are back in their homes still have no electricity and are on boil-water orders.

We have not yet received any requests from the Irma moms.  We will keep you posted.