Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund

Since the launch of our Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund immediately following the 2017 storm that took the lives of at least 68 people and altered life for millions more in Texas and along the Gulf Coast, you have made a difference.

In response to one of the costliest storms in United States history, you and 31,000 people and companies joined together to prove the power of generosity and our ability to make a positive impact in the world. Tragically, Hurricane Harvey was just one on a long list of devastating hurricanes to strike the U.S. recently as the climate crisis drives more extreme, more frequent weather events. But after more than three years, we have collectively raised $5.3 million to fuel immediate relief, long-term recovery, and resilience in Texas.

Thank you for making that possible and supporting our close partnerships with community leaders and trusted nonprofit partners based in Texas. More than 35 local, vetted nonprofit organizations have received grants from the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund to continue serving families grappling with the impacts of Hurricane Harvey that remain to this day.

As we now close our Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund, I’d like to share five incredible highlights that are a direct result of your generosity: 

1. Within 10 days of Hurricane Harvey, we issued emergency grants totaling nearly $400,000 to 10 partner organizations on the front lines of response in impacted communities in Houston and along the coast. The grants resulted in much-needed emergency relief, including food and water distribution, debris clean up and removal, replacement of damaged and destroyed equipment, the provision of fuel for evacuees and first responders, and emergency diaper kits for families with young children.
   
   
2. GlobalGiving deepened relationships with our nonprofit partners in the Houston area by listening to and learning from incredible leaders in our community like Shondra at S.H.A.P.E. Community Center and Renee at the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County. When future disasters strike Texas, these relationships will be the critical foundation for GlobalGiving to quickly get help to those who need it most. For example, during the winter freeze across Texas in February, GlobalGiving was able to swiftly issue emergency grants to eight nonprofit partners with a long track record of serving Hurricane Harvey-impacted communities.
   
   
3. The storm’s impacts did not fall evenly across the Houston landscape. Black and Latinx communities bore the brunt of the most devastating impacts and continue to face systemic inequities in the recovery process. Our partners at West Street Recovery continue to emphasize that the people most affected by Hurricane Harvey are the ones who best understand what can protect them in the future. For more than three years, West Street Recovery worked hand in hand with the Harvey Forgotten Survivors Caucus and the Northeast Action Collective to repair dozens of homes by hiring storm survivors to do the work, complete a participatory community evaluation of disaster recovery, and organize other survivors to demand a more just recovery process.
   
   
4. Hurricane Harvey demonstrated the vital need to invest in long-term environmental resilience, especially in areas prone to flooding. With funding from GlobalGiving, our partners at Bayou City Waterkeeper, the Katy Prairie Conservancy, and the Houston Advanced Research Center are each advancing nature-based, evidence-based solutions that will create an equitable future where all Texans can benefit from the promise of a healthy environment.
   
   
5. The COVID-19 crisis disproportionately impacts communities of color, and that reality is even more pronounced in Houston and other areas that were severely affected by large-scale disasters like Hurricane Harvey. When the pandemic began, our nonprofit partners in Texas rose to the challenge—like the team at Urban Harvest who, through great challenges, maintained their Saturday farmers market to provide fresh food to Houstonians in need and vital support to hard-hit local farmers. 

Though we are closing this fund, our nonprofit partners in Texas remain hard at work. They need your support to continue the long journey to full recovery, especially given the compounding effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. If you are able, please consider supporting a local organization in Houston like the S.H.A.P.E. Community Center, Urban Harvest, or Target Hunger.

From everyone at GlobalGiving, thank you for supporting our partners’ important efforts for the past three years. Your generosity has been critical to community-led disaster recovery in Texas.

With immense gratitude, 

Chase + the GlobalGiving Team