More than 16,000 children and families benefit from hurricane recovery efforts

Nothing is sadder than a soggy teddy bear. A big hurricane like Ike can take a big toll on small children. When the wind stopped blowing and the repairs began, it was soon obvious that not all the damage could be covered with giant blue tarps. Closer to the ground, the child care community measured its loss in cribs, strollers, books and toys – the necessities of daily interaction with children in the care of centers that found themselves devastated. Many even faced permanent closure.

In response, Collaborative for Children stepped in as the lead agency in a multi-partner community collaboration to help child care programs recover and restore essential services to families so they could return to work.  Throughout the year, the organization has been active in locating and coordinating resources with other organizations in the Texas Gulf Coast Region Hurricane Ike Child Care Recovery Project.

The project has helped more than 330 child care programs restore services to 16,254 children and their families. To date nearly  two million dollars has been awarded to the community to replace outdoor equipment, classroom materials and other needs. Through partnership with the YMCA, the project established a temporary child care facility in Galveston that serves more than 100 children throughout the day and 250 children for after school care.

The most recent activities centered on delivering more than $100,000 worth of classroom equipment and supplies to two child care centers in Galveston. Beneficiaries were the East End Preschool and the newly formed Children’s Coalition, both of which were badly damaged.

• Cribs, strollers, books and toys were donated by exhibitors at the National Association for the Education of Young Children annual conference.
• The largest donation of child care furniture was made by Community Playthings.
  Houston Independent School District, the United Way of Greater Houston, and Lakeshore Early Learning helped with the storage and transport of the items.

“We were delighted to provide these deserving programs the cribs, strollers and toys they needed to reopen their facilities and restore services to children and early- childhood educations,” said Carol Shattuck, our President and CEO. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to helping families return to work knowing that their loved ones are being cared for in safe, reliable environments.”

Long-term lessons have been learned about the needs of children whose lives and programs have been disrupted, and planning efforts are ongoing to better address these in the event of future storms. 

Current efforts include a playground rebuilding project which recently received funding from The Junior League of Houston, Inc.  Other funders are exploring the possibility of providing nature-inspired playgrounds to child care programs who’s outdoor areas were completely destroyed.  Workshops for child care staff on disaster planning are also planned for the Texas Association for the Education of Young Children’s Conference, September 24-26, 2009.

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