Help for Homeschool Families Impacted by Hurricane Harvey

I’ve seen my share of natural disasters and severe weather. I’m also a planner/prepper by nature. I’ve lived in the desert where we’ve had flash flooding, tornado alley where semis were tossed around in the air like they were Lincoln Logs, hail storms with hail the size of grapefruit, and the South where hurricanes present an entirely different set of challenges with long-term wind and rain. So, you probably think I’ve got this in the bag. Wrong. Each natural disaster requires prep and planning for evacuating, sheltering in place, and even what to do after the calamity is over. Each time I think I’m prepared, but no matter the duration of the event, one thing is for certain; the aftermath still exists, and you’re never fully prepared. The cleanup remains, and help is always needed.

Think about your day-to-day needs. If you lost everything or even just some things, what would your life look like? Sure, we are absolutely grateful to have our lives, but there are still things that we require in day-to-day living. When the cleanup process and rebuilding begins, we have to deal not only with the physical loss, but also with the emotional loss and healing. Whether you’re a pro at prepping and planning or you have no clue where to even start, I hope this list of resources I have gathered will help you or can be passed on to help others dealing with the rebuilding of lives.  Remember we are praying for all of you!!!

Help for Homeschool Families Impacted by Hurricane Harvey

Social media is powerful, and the citizens of Texas and Louisiana have come together to be there for each other. Below are links for:
 curriculum companies offering partial and full replacement on items lost during Hurricane Harvey
 free online resources and bloggers offering freebies
 legitimate local charities and organizations where you can donate as well as receive donations
 miscellaneous links with resources, tips, and helps

 

Curriculum:

If you purchased curriculum DIRECTLY from any of the businesses listed below, please contact them. They will assist you in getting replacements. Please have handy your email that you used when ordering or any other information that will assist in looking up your order.

HSLDA – HSLDA is ready to help homeschoolers who lost their curriculum in the flood. If you know of someone (with her permission), call HSLDA and offer her name and contact information. The number to call is 540-338-5600.

All About LearningOur hearts are with those who are affected by Tropical Storm Harvey. We’ll replace (at no charge) any All About Reading or All About Spelling curriculum that was purchased through us and lost/destroyed in the flooding. Just send an email to [email protected] with the details of what you need, the name and address of the original order, and where we should send it.

Bob Jones – You can get information at this link about replacing lost curriculum and a free trial of Unlock Math curriculum for Harvey’s victims.

Bright Ideas Press – If you are a homeschool family and have lost your Bright Ideas Press homeschool resources due to Hurricane Harvey, please reach out to us. Email [email protected]. ✨ The God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. – I Peter 5:10 ✨

Classical Conversations – “Classical Conversations has diligently been working on a holistic response to the hurricane damage in Houston and surrounding areas, as well as praying for all those affected. We’ve been in constant contact with CC leadership in the area to keep abreast of all the developments. Those on our email distribution list should receive an email today on how to give to the Homeschool Foundation, which has established a fund to help homeschool families in southeastern Texas who have suffered loss due to Hurricane Harvey.

Classical Conversations will be offering free replacement of curriculum purchased from CC to those who are affected, as well as 40% off of other curriculum. We are saddened to hear of the destruction and loss, but humbled by the response of the homeschool community to those in need. Truly you’ve been the hands and feet of Jesus during this time to many of those affected.” Robert Bortins, CEO Classical Conversations

IEW – Send them a message on Facebook or call them at (800) 856-5815.

Logic of English – We here at Logic of English want everyone affected by Hurricane Harvey to know that our thoughts and prayers are with them through this tough time. We are offering free replacement of any Logic of English curriculum lost to flooding as you begin to rebuild. Please simply contact us at (612) 808-0585, message us on Facebook, or through our contact page,  with the name on the original order, what you need replaced, and where we should send your new materials.

Master Books – For more information, click here.

Pandia Press – For more information, click here.

Tapestry of Grace – For more information, click here.

The Homegrown Preschooler – Go to the website, or send an email to [email protected].

 

Online Resources and Blogger Freebies

**Bloggers may need you to subscribe to their blog to receive the password to access the freebies!**

Hip Homeschool Moms is offering everything in their store for free. Enter Coupon Code: RAOK – good until 9/16/17 @11:59 pm EST

Pool Noodles and Pixiedust

Proverbial Homemaker

My Learning Table

Thrifty Homeschoolers 

Life of a Homeschool Mom

 

Facebook Groups Coordinating Donations and Resources

Homeschoolers Prayer and Support Group

Hurricane Harvey Homeschool Donations

Texas Homeschool Disaster Relief Network

Hurricane Harvey Support – Secular Homeschool Donation/Request

Helping Catholic Homeschoolers Recover from Hurricane Harvey

Helping Hands for Hurricane Harvey

Help for Harvey Evacuees in McKinney, Texas

Texas Welcomes You In

Home School Life TX: Relief After Harvey

THE Homeschoolers Helping Homeschoolers

 

Miscellaneous Links and Tips

THE Texas Home Educators

Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Samaritans Purse

Hope Worldwide

Angel Flights SC – If you or someone you know needs transportation from one of the affected areas and would like transportation, have them fill out the form on our website. Also, the same goes for Supplies. We are accepting supply flights but they have to have a coordinated drop off airport and a person receiving at the landing airport. Please visit www.angelflightsc.org to request.

UMCOR

Pat and Candy

The Organic Prepper 

Houston City Moms Blog What to do if your house floods and how to help flood victims.

KRIS Channel 6 – Free replacement ID’s and Driver’s licenses

The Texas Tribune

Katy Homeschoolers

Mayor Adler

Direct Relief

Americares

Houston Food Bank

Convoy of Hope

United Way

All Hands

Autism Rescue Angels

Dallas Help for Harvey

Air BNB

HomeschoolFree.org

My Happy Homeschool

HSLDA

 

The Cajun Navy – Several organizations have joined forces and are currently offering cleanup assistance for flooded homes. There is no charge for these services. This includes mucking out homes, removing carpet, cutting down tree limbs, etc. While there’s still difficulty getting into some of the neighborhoods, they will come as they are able. For more information, and to register for help, please call 800-451-1954 or 844-965-1386. http://bit.ly/2xXQPpn

Texas Diaper Bank – The Texas diaper bank said they will accept opened, unused diapers. They just ask that they’re sealed in bags clearly labeled with the size and mailed to:
West Loop II Business Park
5415 Bandera Rd. #504
San Antonio, TX 78238.
Diapers are NOT provided by disaster relief agencies. If you have any extra diapers laying around, consider donating to the families plagued by Hurricane Harvey.

Houston Flood Relief
 Baker-Ripley
o Long-Term Disaster Relief

 United Way of Brazoria County
o Long-term recovery

 Rebuilding Together Houston
o Nonprofit that fixes homes

 United Methodist Committee on Relief
o Relief Kits

 Houston Food Bank

 Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston
o Meals on Wheels, senior aid

 Healthcare for the Homeless
o Free medical care

 Houston Area Women’s Shelter
o Women & children’s services

 Montrose Center
o Community services for the elderly & LGBTQ+ youth

 Harmony House
o Relief for the homeless/transitional housing

 Emergency Aid Coalition
o Crisis Aid

 Target Hunger
o Food bank

 Magnificat House
o Shelter, mental health, free lunch daily

 The Beacon
o Housing, daily services, food

 Casa de Esperanza
o Children’s services

 Santa Maria Hostel
o Women & children’s services

 Wheeler Avenue Church

 Texas Diaper Bank
o Children’s services

 South TX Blood & Tissue Center

 Humane Society

 Boys & Girls Club of Greater Houston
o Child care & food aid

 Houston Furniture Bank
o Adopt a family option

 Kids Meals
o Meals for preschool aged children

 St. Vincent de Paul
o clothing, food, and medical supplies + aftercare

 Bo’s Place
o Mental health & grief support

 DePelchin Center
o Foster care agency + mental support for children & families

 

Louisiana Relief Efforts

 NOLA Pay It Forward
o The Mayor’s Office has reactivated The Greater New Orleans Foundation’s Pay It Forward Fund for contributions toward early relief and rebuilding efforts.

 The Archdiocese of New Orleans is collecting funds to be forwarded directly to the Catholic bishops of the affected areas. Those wishing to contribute should send their checks to: Archdiocese of New Orleans,
Attn: Archbishop Aymond,
7887 Walmsley Ave.
New Orleans, LA 70125.
Please indicate “Hurricane Relief” in the memo

 Junior League of New Orleans has an Amazon Wishlist for its Diaper Drive.

 A group of restaurateurs and hospitality community members is holding a gift card drive.
Gift cards from credit card providers such as Visa or American Express and from drug stores department stores are encouraged. Also, home goods stores such as Bed Bath & Beyond, Lowe’s and Home Depot. Drop off locations can be found on the group’s Facebook page.

 The Cajun Navy has a PayPal page!
o People can donate to the efforts of their volunteer groups from south Louisiana who are helping with search and rescue.

 One of those groups is Cajun Coast Search & Rescue

 St. Catherine of Siena Parish
o Please ONLY send BULK / PRE-PACKAGED items. List available in the link.

 

Food Banks That Will Need to Be Replenished

Houston Food Bank
(832) 369-9390
www.houstonfoodbank.org

Galveston Food Bank
(409) 945-4232
www.galvestoncountyfoodbank.org

Food Bank of the Golden Crescent (Victoria)
(361) 578-0591
www.victoriafoodbank.org

Corpus Christi Food Bank
(361) 887-6291
www.foodbankcc.com

Southeast Texas Food Bank (Beaumont)
(409) 839-8777
www.setxfoodbank.org

Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley (Pharr)
956-682-8101
www.foodbankrgv.com

Brazos Valley Food Bank (Bryan)
(979) 779-3663
www.bvfb.org

Central Texas Food Bank (Austin)
(512) 282-2111
www.centraltexasfoodbank.org

San Antonio Food Bank
(210) 337-3663
www.safoodbank.org

Tips for Dealing with Flooding

This is taken from personal experience in 2016 when we helped my aunt and uncle rebuild from flooding in Louisiana.
What to do when your house floods:
1. Ensure physical safety – everything else can be replaced – you can’t.
2. You are in a marathon now, not a sprint – everything will take much, much longer than you want it to. You will be dealing with the federal government (national flood) and they move at their own pace.
3. Take pictures – lots of pictures. Establish how high the water was inside and outside of your house. You need to prove how deep the water was as part of your flood claim. Use a yardstick or ruler on the outside of your house to establish the high water mark.
4. File your claim immediately – get in line for adjustors, etc.
5. Flood insurance will not reimburse you for loss of use, so any hotel or lodging expenses will be out of pocket. FEMA might reimburse you; so keep the receipts.
6. Save all receipts – ALL of them.
7. Order a POD or storage container as they will sell out fast.
8. As soon as the water recedes, start mitigating the damage. Shopvac out what water you can, remove the wet carpets, remove the baseboards and start removing wet sheetrock. Cut a line about 2 feet up the wall. The straighter you cut, the easier the rebuild will be. Bag debris/insulation etc and take it outside. Save a square of ruined carpet and ruined carpet pad for the insurance to verify replacement value – if you have multiple carpets, save multiple samples. – Your goal is to get anything wet out of your house so it can begin to dry. Don’t worry about removing glue down hardwoods, let the contractor handle that during the rebuild.
9. Wear gloves and masks when ripping out and tearing up all damaged items. Even when trashing items going to the dumpster; wear them. Zep cleaner is a beautiful invention. You can get it at Home Depot. Please, please, please use this for disinfecting items you’re keeping such as glassware, dishes, pots and pans, silverware. (Read the directions for exact usage)
10. Take pictures of any damage you see, wet sheetrock, wet carpet, wet furniture, anything you want to claim – document. For contents, document individual items – each shirt, book, etc needs to be enumerated and documented for the claim – if you say 20 books on your claim, you need a photograph where 20 books can be individually accounted for – be exact and over detailed.
11. When needing to dry out things like photos; lay them out and most of the time, even with old photos, they can be salvaged.
12. When expecting more rain don’t put flood debris where it can float away, block a drain and cause more trouble.
13. Be very careful about hiring “the experts” companies will bring in fans, etc and eat up a lot of your claim check by “drying” your house – once the walls are open, the studs will dry in time. Every dime you spend renting expensive blowers is money you can’t use towards granite counter tops or tile upgrades when you rebuild. Fans, your air conditioner a dehumidifier from Home Depot will do the job. You can spray the studs with bleach as they dry out. We saved $10K each claim by doing the work ourselves in our three floods.
14. Be careful hiring contractors – ask for multiple references, ensure they use sub-contractors they know – they will be busy and be prepared to wait.
15. Plastic storage tubs work better than cardboard boxes for storage of your undamaged stuff.
16. Be nice to the adjustor – he or she will be valuing your loss and establishing the rebuild – every dollar counts, so be a pleasant memory for the adjustor, rather than “that” person.
17. No matter who your insurance company is, all flood claims go through the federal government, all money comes through FEMA, so the time between the adjustor visiting your house and you getting money takes weeks/months – be patient – it is challenging and horrible waiting, but you are dealing with the government and all the other claims that are in flight as well.
18. Your first estimate will likely be less than you expect, so work with your contractor to file a supplement for things that were missed. Be wary of working with 3rd party arbitrators as they will take a %age of your total claim, not just any extra they get you in the supplement.
19. Accept help when offered and be specific – if someone asks “what can I do?” tell them something specific – I need candles, contractor bags, sandwiches – be grateful of those that reach out and be honest with what you need.
20. You will get through this, it is a struggle, but you will get through it. Lean on your faith, your friends and family.

Hip Homeschool Moms, LLC is not in the flood repair/recovery or insurance industries. This post should not be taken as legal, medical or any professional advice (in other words, no liabilities, guarantees or warranties are being issued with this publication); implied or otherwise.

 


Jamie is a veteran homeschool mom of two. She has a passion for encouraging moms in all walks of life & a heart for new homeschool moms. She is beginning her 10th year of homeschooling & has a love for Jesus, coffee & the quest for an organized home. She is a non-recovering type A & enjoys chauffeuring her kids to all their activities & downtime with her husband of 16 years. You can find her sharing her semi-crazy life at The Coffee Filled Mom. You can read more from Jamie at Hip Homeschool Moms

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