Fairfield, Connecticut-based Save the Children says it's expanding its emergency response in Texas.
The organization has brought in truckloads of infant and toddler supplies to shelters in Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio, and now Austin.
Jeanne-Aimee De Marrais, director of Emergency Response. says, “When we first arrived before the storm made landfall in San Antonio, we walked into a shelter that had been open for two days. And the head of the nurses who was volunteering at the site came to me and immediately was like, ‘Oh thank goodness you're here. We have had more than 20 infants and toddlers sleeping in cardboard boxes for the last two nights.’”
De Marrais says they’re also setting up child-friendly spaces at shelters holding tens of thousands of people.
“We bring in little tables and chairs, brightly colored carpets, we put up children’s artwork on the walls. We emphasize color. Children immediately associate, ‘Oh this is a space for me,’ and very often come running over.“
De Marrais says the spaces help children feel safe with chaos around them.
Save the Children plans to spend the next two to three years helping with the recovery effort in Texas.
*Name changed for protection.
