Hurricane Harvey Shelter Tips

First thank you for joining the Harvey rescue operation. In order to help the people you are sheltering you should have on hand >> (These items can be supplied by volunteers once you put out a request via social media, etc)
TOPPING THE LIST FROM HURRICANE KATRINA SURVIVORS ARE:
- Hand sanitizer (essential when conserving water or shortage of water)
- Towels
GENERAL STUFF
1. Water
2. Canned food
3. Tampons
4. Aspirin / Tylenol / Advil
5. Band aides
6. First aid kits
7. Baby diapers
8. Adult diapers
9. Plastic utensils (spoons and forks >> no knives)
10. Paper plates
11. Toilet paper
12. Paper towels
13. New shoes >> sneakers of various sizes / Flip flops (but know the standing water is toxic)
14. Socks of various sizes = men’s/women’s
15. (No razors for obvious reasons)
16. Soap
17. Toys for the children to occupy their time, coloring books, etc
18. Clean clothing for children, women, men. (These can be donated from people so gently worn, not old.)
19. Lysol, cleaning supplies (U will need volunteers to keep your premises clean so as to avoid anyone from becoming ill).
WILL KEEP POSTING AS I GET OUR ORIGINAL LIST OR HEAR FROM HURRICANE KATRINA SURVIVORS WHO WE HELPED
HOW TO GET THEM LONGER TERM HELP
1. Try to get people to either a) help them with a direct donation (person to person help instead of Red Cross, other)
2. Try to get people to give them a) gas cards/vouchers; b) hotel room gift cards;c) a place to stay while they get on their feet (during Katrina we had a lot of churches and individuals offer to house people for free); e) financial help to get to family members who may live in another city and or state
3. You can start a program where one person/one family “adopts” a person/or family via your organization. So that help goes directly to the person.
4. IF u do the suggested family to family help KEEP IN MIND people are traumatized and too much re-telling of their ordeal to other people will further re-victimize them. So ask the people who want to help to be considerate and perhaps stick to the present. Not to make the survivor dwell on what happened.
I WILL CONTINUE TO POST INFORMATION here, please check back >>
Posted by Kirby Sommers, CEO/Founder http://LandlordLinks.Net (inspired to create this resource by my work during Hurricane Katrina)
Founder of Katrina Home Drive
Katrina articles: New York Times piece here
Others posted shortly.