Volunteer

Volunteers are the backbone of any recovery. Many of the families whose homes were damaged are either uninsured or under insured. The funds that they received either from an insurance company or FEMA will only cover a fraction of the actual repair costs. This is why volunteer labor is a critical piece of the recovery effort! Since hurricanes Rita and Ike hit southeast Texas, thousands of volunteers from all over the country and as far away as Alaska and Canada provided over 167,000 man hours that saved homeowners and taxpayers more than $3 million in costs! More importantly, volunteers bring hope and comfort to families in crisis. There is no greater gift than compassion and love for your neighbor.

Unfortunately, there are thousands of families still living in damaged homes and unsafe conditions. The majority of these are elderly, disabled, and single-parent families without the means to recover on their own. The work has been going on since Hurricane Rita, and we need more volunteers to maintain the current pace and hopefully increase the pace of recovery from Hurricane Ike for our region. Your congregation/organization can volunteer to assist in this important work! SETIO will arrange:

• Housing for your group, most is dormitory style usually at an area church.
• RV space may be available
• Professional organization, administration, and supervision on the work site
• An opportunity to experience the diverse culture of southeast Texas!

NOTE:  SETIO has run out of funding for building materials and our construction programs are closed out.  We are not presently accepting volunteers.  If you would like us to keep you in mind for future events, please contact our offices to be put on our call list.