Foundation creates long-term fund for Harvey victims
A simple conversation before Hurricane Harvey was even a threat to Southeast Texas blossomed into a long-term plan for assisting those in Montgomery County who were devastated by the storm.
Julie Martineau, executive director of the Montgomery County Community Foundation, spoke with Montgomery County Emergency Management Coordinator Darren Hess days before Harvey was a named storm about how the foundation could help with disaster recovery efforts if anything were to ever strike the community. Days later, residents in Montgomery County experienced record-breaking rainfall and flooding, which damaged thousands of homes and affected countless people in the county as Harvey hammered the area.
The two met again after the storm and marveled at the response from community members and organizations helping meet the short-term needs of those who were hurting – toiletries, housing, etc.
But Hess and Martineau knew something was missing from the mix, a necessity that not many people would think about when there is so much need for help immediately. “They were seeing lots of people calling asking how to help and sending money,” Martineau said. “All of it was going toward immediate response and immediate relief in Montgomery County, which is not a bad thing – but when you have a recovery, it takes five years, at least, for people. People are still recovering from Hurricane Ka-
trina.
“You need to have someone taking the long view.”
That’s what Martineau presented to the foundation’s board days later: A proposal to create a fund specifically for long-term relief for families and residents affected by the storm. And they loved it. The executive director has lived in Montgomery County for years, working with Montgomery County United Way from 1997 to 2016 and for a brief stint as the contracted public information officer for the Montgomery County Hospital District in 2016 up until a few months ago.
She has been at the helm of the foundation since July. When she started, she said board members expressed interest in her spearheading an initiative to broaden the scope of the foundation.
The foundation began in the 1980s as a means for members of the community to create a legacy, Martineau said, by creating, maintaining and contributing to funds that help improve the quality of life in Montgomery County. The foundation administers more than $6.4 million in dozens of funds and helps manage their distribution through grants and scholarships.
She works, essentially, alone as the director outside of a handful of volunteer workers.
“What we’ve been doing has been great,” Martineau said. “But it’s time for us to look at adding to the opportunities we provide in the community. This was just the perfect spot.”
Martineau’s hiring combined with the Harvey’s unfortunate landfall and destruction in Montgomery County helped usher in the new long-term recovery fund, she said.
“We’re here to look at the long-term needs of our community as people recover and find that they have a gap,” Martineau said. “We will be at the table helping people put those pieces together.”
She said the fund already has raised more than $75,000 and is in line with the foundation’s mission of helping people create legacies beyond their lifetime.
“What better legacy can you leave in the community than people being whole again and getting back up on their feet?” Martineau said. “At the end of the day, you want people to have safe and secure housing. That’s a legacy.”
To donate, visit www. mccfoundation.org/Recovery_Fund.html.