The electricity just came back on at Casa Hope, so a few moments ago, I was able to connect with Gener and the team in Mexico. Friends, we have amazing news to share following an incredibly difficult few days in the path of Hurricane Delta.
- Families found safe shelter at Casa Hope. Because of your rapid generosity, we housed 55 people at Casa Hope for the last three days. Your donations made it possible for us to create a safe place for families, provide food and much-needed supplies, and even offer educational activities for the kids staying with us. Thank you!
- Our kitchen served hundreds of people. In addition to those who were staying with us, we fed an additional 50 people at Casa Hope and hundreds more staying in other refuge locations over the last three and a half days.
- We became a resource for the entire community’s hurricane response. Three other shelter locations in town—the high school, the cultural center, and the center for child services—all ran out of food after one day. Because of your generosity, our team was able to prepare large quantities of atole (warm rice milk) and beans, which we then shared with these other shelters to feed hundreds more families in need of sustenance.
- We never ran out of water. This is, frankly, a miracle. At Casa Hope, our water is pulled from two large wells on the property which uses an electric pump to fill cisterns. When the electricity went out, we were fully prepared to lose water within one day—especially with so many more people at Casa Hope than normal. We never ran out.
- Casa Hope will continue to be a safe haven. We lost one big tree, but the clean up will be minimal—meaning we can continue opening our doors for our community as needed. Some families are still staying with us because it is not yet safe for them to return home.
Most of all, we want to say thank you. First, to Gener and Obed for their exceptional, brilliant response. They managed to organize all of this with only a few hours’ notice, and we are so grateful for their compassionate, wise leadership.
And second, to each of you. The way this community has come together over the past few days has been nothing short of remarkable. Your quick response made it possible for us to creatively care for so many families—both through the storm and in the days ahead.
We’ll keep you posted on next steps, but I didn’t want to go into the weekend without pausing to acknowledge just how significant the past few days have been. Thank you for being a part of this with us.