Hurricane Harvey has pulled on the heart strings of our Gypsy Nurse community. An outpouring of posts offering nursing assistance has literally flooded our group feed. We here at The Gypsy Nurse have been working to find and provide all of our community a place to find any/all pertinent information.

*This post will be updated as new information is received. Most recent additions, 9/06/2017

Crisis Intervention of Houston 713-HOT-LINE
24/7 phone lines answered for people who need to talk to someone when in distress.

Nurse Relief (and Volunteer) Resources
It’s important to note that relief staffing can take some time to deploy. If you have registered to assist, please exercise patience as deployment can take some time. There will be continued needs in the evacuation areas for some time to come.

Temporary Staffing Jobs – A multitude of staffing agencies are working with the hospitals in the evacuation areas to provide relief staffing. Please reach out to these agencies directly.
Check out the Job listings in TEXAS by searching the Gypsy Nurse Job Listings
FEMA Administrator Brock Long, urged those who want to help to go to the website of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster – at www.nvoad.org.
Dallas Convention Center – They have specific instructions for volunteering and donating via several relief agencies.
The George Brown Convention Center in Houston. They need supplies and medical personnel.
Red Cross seeking Health and Mental Health Volunteers
Sign up to volunteer with the Texas Disaster Volunteer Registry.
From NJSNA (New Jersey State Nurse Association)
The former CEO of RWJUH Stephen Jones’s son ( Stephen Jones, Jr.) is the CEO of a 150 bed hospital on the Texas coast. They have called us looking for volunteer nurses for one to two weeks to fly down (private jet leaving Newark Thursday morning) and be able to give their staff some relief. They’ll be happy if they can stay the week, ecstatic if they can stay two weeks. All expenses paid, but no salary (volunteer). They will cover cost of flying back here. Just need your license – they will cover malpractice under their plan. Please share this information and anyone who is interested, email NJSNA. They need 30 ICU nurses, 30 ED nurses and 30 med/surg/telemetry nurses. Thanks for spreading the word! To volunteer, please contact Judy Schmidt, NJSNA CEO at judy@njsna.org

Donate

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner established the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund, housed by the Greater Houston Community Foundation.
American Red Cross Hurricane Harvey relief. You can also pitch in by texting HARVEY or REDCROSS to 90999.
The United Way of Greater Houston has launched the United Way Relief Fund to support the community in the aftermath of Harvey. You can specify funds go towards Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, or Waller County, or wherever they are most needed.
Jewish Family Services of Greater Houston has a JFS Staffed Crisis Hotline, at 713-364-5021, answered by a local therapist for weather-related anxiety. Please leave a message if no one answers. Give to the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston’s Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund to support efforts to get food, water, and shelter to local families.
Donate to Communities of Color (via Colorlines)
CNN’s Public Good donation portal will split funds between these organizations: Convoy of Hope, Samaritan’s Purse, Americares, Direct Relief, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corps, Salvation Army, and Save the Children Federation.
Global Giving has a $2 million fundraising goal for a fund that will provide relief to survivors in the form of emergency supplies like food, water, and medicine in addition to longer-term recovery assistance to help residents recover and rebuild. All donations to this fund will exclusively support local relief and recovery efforts from this storm.
Southern Baptist Disaster Relief’s Hurricane Harvey efforts.
Texas Diaper Bank needs donations to provide diapers to families affected and displaced by the hurricane. Diapers can be dropped off at their location at 5415 Bandera Road, Suite 504, San Antonio, TX 78238

ANIMALS

SPCA of Texas’s specific hurricane relief page shares that they are accepting in-kind donations in Dallas and McKinney, as well as monetary donations
San Antonio Humane Society is sheltering animals while their owners are displaced. Although they are not specifically asking for donations, I’m sure they won’t turn away.
Austin Pets Alive has transported almost 250 animals to their shelter so far. They need funding, long-term fosters, and items from a wishlist of in-kind donations.
Lost Dogs of Texas is maintaining several active Facebook pages documenting pets they’ve found amid the storm. Here is some information (with photos included) on animals found along the Coast Bend area and those in the Houston area.

Food Donations

Feeding Texas is a central organization that helps to meet food needs throughout Texas. Most food banks request monetary donations during critical need times like this, as they can be used directly and require less manpower in sorting. The best material donations include canned meat and fish, powdered milk, cereal, canned fruit, fruit cups, peanut butter and jelly. Cleaning supplies like bleach and paper towels are also accepted.
Houston Press has a list of all local food banks.
Houston Food Bank is closed due to the storm. Their Harvey-specific donation page is live. $100 will cover 300 meals.
San Antonio Food Bank is the official coordinating agency in partnership with the City, County, and other nonprofit organizations for the donation of money and supplies in support of Harvey relief work in their region.
Central Texas Food Bank will distribute emergency food boxes to the affected regions.
The H-E-B grocery store chain has donated $100,000 towards Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, and has an in-store campaign for customer donations. All Houston area H-E-B locations are currently closed.

Public Safety, Shelter, and Health Care

Find an open shelter near you by texting SHELTER and your zip code to 4FEMA (43362). You can also use the FEMA mobile app.

City of Houston Emergency information.
Houston’s Coalition for the Homeless is updating available space in shelters here.

Following reports that several Texans are missing in midst of the storm, the Red Cross is encouraging people to list themselves and their families as safe by clicking here. You can also receive disaster assistance from the Red Cross by calling 877-500-8645, or find a list of open shelters here.

Shelter is available at the George Brown Convention Center in Houston. They need supplies and medical personnel.
Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center in Dallas is operating as a “mega-shelter”. They have specific instructions for volunteering and donating via several relief agencies.

Austin Convention Center is currently an American Red Cross headquarters, and is expecting to offer space for 7,000

Make a cash or diaper donation to the Texas Diaper Bank, which is providing emergency diaper kits to displaced families.

Trusted World operates three shelters in Dallas and is serving people displaced by Hurricane Harvey, including at the Dallas Convention Center.
Donations being accepted include: New underwear, Socks, Warmups, Toiletries and personal Hygiene products

Baby Items: formula, wipes, diapers, bottles
- Drop off is at 15660 N. Dallas Parkway, just north of Arapaho on the north side of the Parkway. The donations center will open from 3-8 p.m. daily.
Austin Disaster Relief Network will hold a Community Survivor Donation Drive on Wednesday, August 30. You may also donate online or text AUSTINRELIEF to 444999.
The Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund has been set up through the Austin Community Foundation by the Austin Disaster Relief Network to provide for the immediate and long-term physical needs of families impacted by Hurricane Harvey.

Housing Assistance

FEMA Transitional Shelter Assistance and Disaster Recovery Individual Assistance
Baker Ripley offers community-based services in 70 locations, including community centers, across Houston.
People needing shelter or wishing to offer it can use Air BnB. Service fees are waived through September 1.