Maeve Becker: Helping the Hurricane Relief Effort in Texas
Giveback Homes Member Maeve Becker spent time in South Texas with 4,000 other Keller Williams volunteers, contributing over 60,000 hours helping to clean more than 150 homes in places like Katy and Sealy, Texas. The KW Cares team also assembled 5,000 clean-up kits and distributed 10,000 pounds of food. Below is a recap on Maeve’s experience, and the stories of the incredible people she met along the way.
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"The experience of the week spent in Texas, with my fellow KW agents from all over the world, was profound. Meeting some of the victims myself and hearing their heartbreaking stories was so humbling. Equally moving were the stories of some of the agents that came to help. I met one lady who left her home in Florida, hours before Irma hit, and drove to Texas to help total strangers. I certainly fell in love with Keller Williams, and its amazing culture all over again!
Many of our team spent four days de-mucking homes: tearing out sheetrock and kitchen cabinets, pulling up hardwood floors, hauling soggy mattresses and ruined furniture, filling wheelbarrows with wet photo albums, high-school yearbooks, and stopping to talk to the homeowner, as she shared precious memories attached to the “treasures” in the wheelbarrows, and then gave permission for them to be added to the trash pile on the sidewalk.
My back isn’t up to hard labor any more, so I spent my week doing less physically intensive work. I helped sort the flood of donations that poured in from around the country. I assembled survival packages for evacuees who had no homes to go to. Many of the victims had to be driven to pick up their supplies, as their own cars had been destroyed in the flood. Other days were spent loading and shrink-wrapping pallets of supplies, targeted for devastated communities, and helping with data entry, as organizations tried to keep track of the families that they served, and note those who needed relocation or other follow-up services.
One highlight of my week was the afternoon that we partnered up with the Austin Police Department, and met up with a busload of children who were staying in shelters in Austin. We were given a $150 Gift Card for each child and took them shopping for new school clothes at Target. Many of these children left home with just the clothes on their backs, and some still didn’t know if they had homes to return to. It felt great to be the best part of their day, and to help them escape their harsh reality, even if only for a few hours.
I left Austin on Saturday night with a heavy heart, wanting to do more, because even though Houston is not the top news story anymore, the rebuilding of the all damaged homes, and lives, will take years. I resolved to continuing the fund raising efforts, so that these families know that they are loved and haven’t been forgotten.
"I thank y'all. It’s hard for you. It hurts your heart and you are probably thinking, I get to go back to my house, but don’t feel bad. I have a home; I’m just houseless right now. I have my husband, kids and animals. This is home. This is my joy." — Ofelia Montoya
"We had seven feet of water. You can see the water line. That’s where it started. I've been praying for help for over a week. You know God is very busy right now, but today he sent his angels. Thank you Keller Williams." ---Ofelia Montoya
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This is Isabelle, who just started Kindergarten two weeks before the hurricane hit. She's now in the shelter with her mom, brother & sister. They don't know if their home is still there.
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This is Jeremy. He and his mother were evacuated from Rockport, TX, at the last minute before Harvey made a direct hit. They've lost everything - literally everything. Jeremy, 16, is helping to support his mother, who has brain cancer.
How You Can Help
Jeff Anderson, the Operating Partner of my office has a foundation that can accept direct donations. They have committed to raise $20,000 to aid in the relief efforts, and need $6,000 more to reach that funding goal. If you can spare $5, $10, $20, anything would help. 100% of the money raised go directly to help those in need."
-Maeve Becker
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To join the Giveback Homes movement go to givebackhomes.com. To donate and help build a home for a family in need, please click here. 100% of your contribution will go directly towards building homes #forsocialgood.