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The Black Leaders Collective and other organizations distribute food and supplies at the former Sims Elementary School on Saturday.
Black-led organizations have been working to provide food, supplies and shelter to underserved communities in Central Texas throughout this week’s winter storm. Now, as temperatures rise and the snow melts, leaders are mobilizing efforts to help people most in need face the aftermath.
“The sun is finally shining, the snow is melting away, but the pain and impact of this devastation is still there,” Terry Mitchell of the Black Leaders Collective said during a press conference Friday. “Now more than ever it is clear how important community is in times of disaster here in Travis and Williamson County.”
AUSTIN At the height of the storm that blasted Texas, Maria Benitez huddled in her Austin apartment with her husband and four teenage children, eating tuna out of a can and sipping on powdered milk. With no power, her apartment was dangerously cold and the family pulled on several pairs of pants and sweaters to keep warm.
Benitez s power and water returned Thursday, just as her fridge and cupboards grew bare
. But now a new struggle begins: The storm kept her from cleaning homes all week and, as her family s sole wage earner, she s instantly behind on rent and utilities. Grocery donations from friends have helped. But those will run out soon.
Texas winter storm could make life worse for Black and Latino families hit hard by power outages N dea Yancey-Bragg and Rick Jervis, USA TODAY
Texas mom describes three days without power with three kids, two dogs, husband
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AUSTIN At the height of the storm that blasted Texas, Maria Benitez huddled in her Austin apartment with her husband and four teenage children, eating tuna out of a can and sipping on powdered milk. With no power, her apartment was dangerously cold and the family pulled on several pairs of pants and sweaters to keep warm.
Benitez s power and water returned Thursday, just as her fridge and cupboards grew bare
It s criminal : A Texas community left without aid in the cold msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Gloria Vera-Bedolla, a Latina community organizer and mother of three, feels like her neighborhood near Austin, Texas, has been forgotten in a deep freeze that has plunged the state into a humanitarian crisis.
“We continue to be the victims of social injustice, food injustice, systemic racism all of it,” she said. “And lots of people don’t speak up because they’re not used to being heard.”
Known as Forest Bluff, Vera-Bedolla’s neighborhood is on the east side of Interstate 35, where a vast share of the city’s Black and Hispanic populations reside. Her family moved there in 2017 after rising property taxes pushed them out of central Austin, drawn by cheaper real estate and more square footage.