hurricane Recovery Efforts well under way
In the aftermath of the devastation caused by Hurricane Ike, Collaborative for Children is working with several organizations in the community to help 3,400 of the nearly 5,000 child-care programs (69%) damaged by this major storm.
 Last week we began the task of updating our child-care resource and referral database to keep parents and the community aware of available child-care alternatives. We communicated by phone with the 5,000 child-care programs in the Texas Gulf Coast region and asked them to let us know if they experienced damage, if they were planning to open, and/or if they had the capacity to serve additional children. Damage assessments of child-care programs continued via e-mail and through an on-line Zoomerang survey that requested additional information. To date, more than 600 programs have completed the survey. In addition, we have communicated with hundreds more by phone and e-mail.
First -- the good news. Thirty-one percent of programs have indicated they were undamaged by the storm. Of those programs that did experience damage, 59 percent categorized the harm as minor, 9 percent as major, and 1 percent as “completely destroyed.” It is important to keep in mind that these results are preliminary, as we have only heard from a few programs in our coastal communities. Accordingly, we expect the percentage of programs with major damage to increase over time.
Nearly 70 percent of Houston-area child-care programs were damaged by Hurricane Ike. That proportion will rise, too, as more coastal centers report their post-storm condition.
 On Tuesday, we co-hosted a meeting with Children at Risk to confer with several local service organizations about the impact of the hurricane on children. After the meeting, a group of child-care advocates met about specific recovery plans. Organizations interested in partnering in the recovery effort include Innovations in Early Childhood Education, Neighborhood Centers Inc., Service of the Emergency Aid Resource Center for the Homeless (SEARCH), Texas Department for Family and Protective Services, United Way of Greater Houston and the YMCA of Greater Houston. A five-point plan has since been drafted and made ready for implementation (see “next steps”).
We are also partnering with Save the Children, a national organization that assists communities in their post-disaster recovery efforts. The agency’s areas of expertise include helping communities by providing emergency child care in shelters, raising funds and distributing child-care materials and equipment through local resource and referral organizations such as ours. We would like to extend the reach of Save the Children’s national fundraising efforts by matching their resources with local contributions.
We are partnering with Save the Children in addressing the financial needs arising during recovery efforts. To contribute to the recovery fund, click here.
Funds may be used to assist centers with minor repairs (e.g., many centers have fences down, precluding children from playing outside). Other programs need to restore or replace damaged classroom and outdoor equipment. Funds may also be used to support the training of directors, teachers and parents called upon to care for children who experienced the recent disaster. Save the Children has already provided a small operating grant to CC in acknowledgement of the staff support we are dedicating to recovery efforts. Click here to contribute to our Hurricane Ike child-care recovery fund.
Save the Children's national media team also worked with us to coordinate a press conference last Monday to talk about the challenges facing the thousands of parents who have had to go back to work and have no available child care. The conference was held at Kandy Stripe Academy, one of our Sunnyside Centers. The following stations participated: Univision, KTRK Channel 13, KRIV Channel 26 and KHOU Channel 11 (telephone interview). We also participated at Children at Risk’s press conference last Thursday that focused on several children’s issues, including child care. The Houston Chronicle along with several television and radio stations took part.
Next steps are to: (1) quickly create a “steering committee” of organizations committed to child care to facilitate the work that needs to be done, (2) speak with local/state officials about simplifying the process by which teachers can recover lost wages, (3) speak with local/state officials about securing child-care subsidies for families that are in or near a financial crisis due to the storm, (4) establish a process for distributing classroom materials and playground equipment to centers that need replacements and (5) complete a list of resources that will be disseminated in multiple ways to the child-care community.
Partners: All of these steps will be the result of a community effort with several organizations taking part to accomplish the big job of getting our child care community and, as a result, our workforce back on track! Many thanks to Kay Albrecht of Innovations in Early Childhood Education, Amanda Gorner of Neighborhood Centers Inc, Mitzi Bartlett of SEARCH, Christina Harvey of Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, Katherine von Haefen and Linda O’Black of United Way of Greater Houston and Jose Rendon of the YMCA of Greater Houston. National partners in addition to Save the Children have also stepped forward, including Kaplan Early Learning Company and Lakeshore Learning Materials, two national manufacturers/distributors of quality early education resources; and the National Association for the Education of Young Children and the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, who are assisting with resources and tips for caregivers and parents for helping children after the storm.
Attend Our October 10 Luncheon, help support Local recovery efforts
Now more than ever, Collaborative for Children needs your support to address the child-care crisis we face in the wake of Hurricane Ike.
Collaborative for Children is at the forefront of some of the most important disaster-relief efforts under way in the Gulf Coast Region. Your support of our efforts is more critical than ever. Your contributions are essential in assuring that recovery efforts address the needs of the more than 3,400 child-care programs serving an estimated 175,000 children. You can play an integral role in these activities by attending our annual Investing in The Next Generation luncheon, our largest fundraising event of the year. This event will provide an opportunity to directly contribute to recovery efforts essential to getting the child care community back on its feet.
We invite you to join leaders from our educational, philanthropic and business communities who support the work we do with families and educators in the Houston area. We will also be featuring unique, highly collectible memorabilia from many of your favorite professional and college sports teams in our silent auction, proceeds from which will directly benefit CC’s child care recovery efforts.
Your investment in The Next Generation is guaranteed to yield infinite returns in the lives of thousands of children whose lives are drastically improved through the invaluable work Collaborative for Children does each and every day. Click here to register online or to download and print an invitation.
Friday, October 10, 2008
11:00 a.m. Registration and Silent Auction begin
11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. – Luncheon and Program
Hyatt Regency Houston
1200 Louisiana Street
Houston, TX 77002
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