More than 30 percent of all the families served by Heroes for Children, a unique nonprofit organization that provides financial and social assistance to Texas families with a child battling cancer, are located in the Houston area. Break that down that is more than 1,000 families. Families depend on Heroes for Children to help with everyday needs such as mortgage/rent, groceries, gas cards to help them get from one doctor to the next, to name a few. Heroes for Children has been able to be a hero to so many Houston families and is now asking the public to be a Hero by making a donation via text message to 41444 and texting “Heroes4Houston.” You can then choose your donation amount.
The Category 4 hurricane made landfall northeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, on Friday, Aug. 26, and left a path of devastation across the southeast forcing thousands of Texans to evacuate from their homes. Of those forced to evacuate include families with children undergoing cancer treatments that are unable to get to the hospital for care and may be forced to seek refuge in a shelter, exposing their weak immune systems to unknown threats.
“Our families needs are real. It’s hard enough to imagine losing your home and having to evacuate but adding to that is having a child battling cancer – where their living conditions mean the difference between life and death,” says Larissa Linton co-founder and Executive Director of Heroes for Children. “As the impacted areas slowly begin to recover and rebuild, there are still many unknowns — but we do know that many of the families we serve are struggling to find sterile environments for their children and have limited access to the hospital.”
Heroes for Children plans for an influx of assistance requests from many families who are forced to travel to other facilities (such as Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin) for treatment or postpone treatment, which may cause an even larger financial strain on the family. The nonprofit anticipates many Houston-area families will request assistance to help cover the costs of relocation to DFW for treatment.
Since its inception in 2005, Heroes for Children has helped over 1,700 families with children battling cancer in the Houston area alone. More than 30 percent of the total allocations serve two hospitals in Houston — Texas Children’s Hospital and MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Center. This week the roads to Texas Children’s Hospital and MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Center have been flooded and completely impassable, outpatient treatment and surgeries are cancelled and children with cancer are in shelters with compromised immune systems.
To help families affected by Hurricane Harvey, Heroes for Children has created a text to donate campaign. To make a donation to Houston families battling cancer by text “Heroes4Houston” to 41444 All the funds raised from this campaign will be used to support Houston area families. For more information please, visit their website: www.heroesforchildren.org.