Area groups work to offer help to storm victims.

Groups at ‘beginning’ of gathering donations, sending food, supplies.

From collecting toiletries to providing crisis counseling, local nonprofit groups this week are stepping up their Hurricane Harvey relief efforts to meet the needs of an influx of survivors who face a long road to recovery.

“We’re just at the beginning of it all,” said Daniel Geraci, founder and executive director of the Austin Disaster Relief Network.

As of Sunday, the organization’s call center had received more than 500 calls both from evacuees from the Gulf Coast and from people interested in volunteering. The network, which works with more than 175 churches in the Austin area, has sent teams of trained volunteers to area shelters to help with emotional and spiritual care.

“The goal right now is to pull them out of their trauma,” Geraci said. So far, the network has helped more than 100 families affected by flooding. » »

At its Hope Family Thrift Store, 1122 E. 51st St., donations such as inflatable mattresses, new socks and undergarments are being accepted for evacuees. The net- work has also distributed gift cards along with items such as toys, coloring books and hygiene kits.

But as the group works on addressing i mmediate needs, it is also looking to the future. Pairing survivor families with local families in the network’s Disaster Relief Shepherd pro-

PHOTOS BY RICARDO B. BRAZZIELL / AMERICAN-STATESMAN Natalie Kifer (left) and Krista Harmon pick up bags of items Monday donated to Hurricane Harvey victims at the Circle C Community Center in South Austin. Kifer said she is rallying friends to send supplies to the Texas coastal cities hard-hit by the...

Jackson Dugan carries some items at the Circle C Community Center that he’s donating to Harvey victims. “Everyone wants to help,” said a public affairs official with the Texas Wing of the Civil Air Patrol.