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Support Catholic Charities in the Rio Grande Valley

Your donation to Catholic Charities will enable us to respond to the needs of those families or individual that are most vulnerable (the poor, the elderly, the sick, and the disable) and are in need of assistance in a time of crisis or a disaster.

Catholic Social Services provides assistance with food, water, utilities, rent, cleaning kits, and home repairs to those families or individuals that do not qualify for any assistance from other federal or state agencies.

Hurricane Ike, September 12, 2008
Catholic Social Services is collecting donations for Hurricane Ike Recovery Efforts. To Support response efforts, use the following button.

Hurricane Dolly, July 23, 2008
Catholic Social Services is collecting donations for Hurricane Dolly Recovery Efforts. To Support response efforts, use the following button.

Starr County Flooding, August 18, 2008
Catholic Social Services is collecting donations for Starr County Recovery Efforts. To support response efforts, use the following button.

General Support
If you wish to make a donation to support the general operation for all the programs provided by Catholic Social Services (Emergency Assistance to the Poor, Counseling Services, Immigration Services), use the the following button.

Catholic Social Services Hurricane Dolly Disaster Respons

After Hurricane Dolly hit the Rio Grande Valley on July 23, hundreds of thousands of families from the three counties affected by the storm were in need of immediate relief for food and water. Very early after the storm, the local Catholic Charities team together with Catholic Charities USA was the major agency actively providing community services and relief at five different points of distribution. Because Catholic Social Services began the relief process very early after the storm and because of our solid reputation particularly amongst the community, the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and the RGV Food Bank, Church World Services, Feed the Children, along with other local food stores like Save-A-Lot and HEB, all partnered with Catholic relief efforts to continue to provide a mass distribution of water, food, and cleaning items. We were able to provide relief to 120,000 people in five days. We continued the distribution at two sites to those families who requested it.

We established a disaster response hotline for people with special needs to contact us for information and referrals to those agencies providing some type of disaster relief.
Presently we are continuing our relief efforts at three new sites where caseworkers will begin meeting with those families with special needs.  The Resource sites are located near those communities affected by the storm, one in each county.

In addition to these efforts, a Long Term Recovery Committee in the Valley has been formed. There is a representation in the LTRC from different faith groups, governmental and nongovernmental agencies of the valley and Catholic Social Services is the Chair of this. This committee will continue to respond for the long term recovery especially to those families who did not qualified for assistance from governmental or state agencies and unfortunately fall through the cracks. We are hoping to respond to as many of these families as our resources allow us to.

There is a great concern for the people within the diocese, many of whom were quite vulnerable prior to the storm that their vulnerability has only heightened in the aftermath of the storm. There are over 6,400 families who have indicated a desire for further assistance. This incredible number of families is due, in part, to the fear that many in the area have about accessing services through state, county or federal services. Many, if not all, of the victims from the storm were economically poor prior to the storm and have become seriously compromised in its aftermath. A large number of the victims are elderly, disabled and many lack transportation. These are some of the concerns that we presently face in our effort to provide the care to the most vulnerable and still in need of relief. Your help is greatly appreciated. Please help us in providing the care that many families are needing to restore their lives after the storm.

, Director of Catholic Social Services
400 N. Virgen de San Juan Blvd. • San Juan, TX 78589 • Phone 956-702-4088 • Fax 956-782-0418

last updated 19-Sep-2008 13:30 sitemap