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What started out as a mission to provide water by one of the CYS staff, Audrey Shankle, who has clients that live in the Palms of Baytown apartment complex, evolved into providing a case of water for each of the 88 units. This complex has not had any water since the winter storm in February. She was made aware of the situation when she was on a home visit.

Due to reaching out to partnering agencies in the community, such as Love Inc. They provided Audrey a contact at Lowe's Home Improvement. The store donated a pallet of water, which consisted of 60 cases. In order to obtain enough for each unit, Walmart donated 28 cases of water and two $50 gift cards and Target donated other supplies such as detergent and hygiene items, and we obtained hygiene items from BEAR.

Due to the amount of water being donated, a vehicle was needed to pick up the donated items from Lowes. Vita Richardson contacted our contracting school district, Goose Creek CISD and they provided a contact at Precinct 2. Precinct contacted the City of Baytown - Government, which provided a vehicle and several workers. Precinct 2 also contacted a deputy from the Harris County Sheriff's Office to assist in the distribution and provide oversight.

The Baytown Sun was at the complex doing a story about this. The article can be seen here.

March 16 is #nationalsocialworkday and Harris County Resources wants to take this opportunity to thank all of the dedicated social workers in our organization and #socialworkers in general. #socialworkersrock

• During the historic Texas Winter Storm of 2021, Harris County Resources for Children and Adults (HC Resources) maintained operations of two, 24-hour, essential programs throughout the disaster to serve youth and families of Harris County.  HC Resources implemented a pre-authorized Emergency Disaster Plan.   Administrators and staff worked as a team for the safety of youth in our care.  Once power went out at the Harris County Youth Services Center (YSC) in Houston, the onsite generator provided back-up power for lighting, heat, internet and phone service.  Although power and water sources were somewhat diminished during the storm, there was no need to move youth from the YSC to hotels or other locations that were also experiencing power outages and other significant impacts from the winter storm.

• Kinder Emergency Shelter cared for 11 youth throughout the disaster.  Shelter staff who reported to work before the freeze were aware that they would be working 16-hour shifts.  Staff volunteered to come and sleep over so that they could assist those who had worked the night shifts.  Staff were compensated for the additional time worked.   Shelter staff not only worked well together, but they engaged with the youth in small structured groups and even displayed their talents and creativity in meal preparations for the youth. Ultimately, children felt safe, cared for, and more connected with the shelter staff.

• Triad Intake Diversion (crisis intervention program) provided care for two runaway teens from the Dallas area whose parents were unable to travel during the event. These youth were safely released once it was safe for them to travel.  Intake staff also answered the 24-hour Baby Moses and Triad Hotlines for families. Staff provided COVID-19 screening for first responders and children entering the YSC building, and fielded calls from DFPS staff and officers seeking coordination and direction about abused children or minors without supervision.  A team of 11 dedicated Triad Intake staff (HC Resources and Juvenile Probation) rotated shifts which lasted 24-72 hours each, depending on road conditions.  Staff communicated well with each other and leadership to provide essential services, even while the building operated with diminished heat, power and water.  The TRIAD Intake program only shut down for a period of 12 hours on Wednesday evening due to power outages. However, services resumed the next day with the resumption of generator power.