Jose 'JJ' Balderas
United Way of Parker County has launched a long-term recovery program to help residents continue recovering from the April 25 EF-1 tornado through partnerships with local agencies, churches, nonprofits and community partners.
The program follows United Way’s initial response during the week of the storm, when the organization helped coordinate donations, supplies and local assistance for residents who faced immediate needs.
Jana Snow, executive director of United Way of Parker County, said the continuing response reflects the organization's role in helping connect residents to available resources.
“That’s our mission — connect Parker County residents with the resources that can help them overcome the challenges they’re facing,” Snow said.
When the storms came through Parker County, Snow said the county reached out to United Way to assist with incoming donations.
To expedite the process of providing immediate resources to storm survivors, United Way signed a memorandum of understanding with the county to serve as the fiduciary agent for storm donations and created a disaster relief fund for monetary donations.
“We set up the disaster relief fund to be able to give back directly to the survivors,” Snow said. “There are financial hardships that some are not able to overcome and we need to be able to support them.”
Snow said United Way also helped set up the disaster assistance center which became a “one-stop shop” for storm survivors.
“We invited organizations that offer assistance in emergencies to come in and set up. This allowed the survivors access to all of their needed resources in one place,” she said.
Now two months after the April storms, Snow said the long-term recovery program continues to address immediate needs while working toward long-term solutions for families.
“We are meeting weekly and our initial meetings are just going over immediate needs,” she said. “We want to ensure that the homes are secure to prevent additional damage.”
Snow said some residents are still dealing with insurance claims, while others had no insurance or not enough coverage. She also noted some needs may also fall outside of insurance coverage, including large tree damage or other repairs.
To help close gaps in needs, United Way has partnered with the United Methodist Committee on Relief to bring in case workers as part of the next step in the recovery process.
“We are working closely with UMCOR. They help manage the whole process,” Snow said.
She said the case workers will work directly with storm survivors to navigate recovery.
“The case workers will come in and walk side by side with the storm survivors to help them get back to normal,” she said. “So, whatever that looks like for them, it could be health related, it could be property related, (or) financial.”
Snow emphasized the significance of the partnership with UMCOR as many of the local organizations involved in the long-term recovery program do not primarily focus on disaster response.
“The long-term recovery group is made up of local nonprofits, churches and organizations that don’t necessarily specialize in disaster,” she said. “UMCOR is and we’re so glad to have them on board.”
Once case managers are in place, Snow said they will begin contacting survivors who have reported damage and begin identifying cases that need long-term management and who are still in need of immediate assistance.
“We all come together, collaborate and figure out whose resources are best to help which survivor. That way we can spread it out and make sure that everyone is getting the help that they need.”
Snow said residents who were impacted by the storm and still need assistance should reach out to United Way of Parker County.
“We are still working — we have not forgotten about them. We are finding resources. We understand it’s a longer process than any of us would like, but we are still working diligently to get them the help that they need,” she said.
Residents can contact Snow at [email protected] or call 817-458-8615.
