ongoing hurricane harvey response
Like so many, we at Houston Mennonite Church grieve the terrible loss of life, livelihood, shelter, and possessions that so many suffered as a result of the flooding and devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey. Recovery continues to be a long journey and we are thankful that so many want to take action alongside us.
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To send money directly to Houston Mennonite Church, use our online giving page. Please indicate that your gift is for Harvey recovery and relief efforts being conducted by HMC. For example, include the words "Harvey recovery" in the memo.
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Here are some specific groups and organizations HMC is supporting:
undocumented families (via united we dream)
What do they need? Monetary donations
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Why is this important? Houston is home to an estimated 575,000 undocumented immigrants. Hurricane Harvey displaced many of their families. This devastating event added to attacks on undocumented immigrants throughout Texas. Many undocumented Harvey victims did not request assistance or register for fear of detention. Helping Houston’s most vulnerable and marginalized is at the heart of who we are.
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How can I help? Donate money to go directly to these families.
Donate here with a small service charge (you will need to create an account unless donating via credit card, for which no account is needed).
immigrants & refugees (via casa juan diego & catholic worker)
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What do they need? Monetary donations, and supplies. See more details about needs here.
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Why is this important? Casa Juan Diego takes care of some of the most vulnerable in our community, including immigrants and refugees. Some areas of special focus include the Women’s House of Hospitality, which gives hospitality and services for immigrant women and children, especially serving pregnant or physically battered women and their children or those whose husbands have been deported; assistance to paralyzed or seriously ill immigrants living in the community; hospitality for immigrant men new to the country; and services for sick and wounded men.
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How can I help? Donate money here, or find information about other support here.
general disaster relief (via mennonite disaster service)
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What do they need? Monetary donations, volunteers
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Why is this important? MDS activates early response teams, and also commits to the long haul. Now that the flooding is off the front page they are still there, repairing and rebuilding homes. The Texas assessment team has visited areas that were not in the news, often forgotten areas, that have just as much if not more devastation but no spotlight cast upon them.
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How can I help? Donate here, or sign up to be a volunteer here.
...and one more way to help - be a social media ambassador
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What does this mean? All of the efforts above will only be successful if people know about them! One of the quickest ways to spread the word is via social media and we need YOU to make this happen.
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Why is this important? To start with: We do this to boldly and publicly witness to our core values, and to our faith. Speaking up without hesitation helps promote our uniquely Anabaptist Christian public witness to Houston, which is one of the reasons HMC uses social media in the first place.
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Secondly, and very practically: Social media uses a number of elements to decide what stories are "important" and therefore which stories get shown to more people, placed higher in the newsfeed, and so on. Some of the most important elements involve quick interaction with a new post or story from readers. The more LIKES, SHARES, and COMMENTS a story gets - and the quicker they happen - mean that the story is determined to be more important, and shown to more people. Just a few quick clicks can mean the difference between a story being seen by just a few people, or hundreds - or even thousands.
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What can I do? Be active on your social media accounts! Any time you see something you agree with posted by HMC (or another group), make sure to LIKE, SHARE, or COMMENT - or a combination of those things. You can even change your settings so that you get a notification every time HMC posts to Facebook - meaning you can respond even more quickly, and you won't miss anything important.
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