Dear Legionaries of Christ, Consecrated Men and Women, RC Local Directors and RC members,

 

Greetings from Houston, where we are finally seeing the sun come through the clouds. On behalf of everyone here, we want to thank you for your innumerable prayers, support and concern for our safety. Certainly, you’ve seen the images and videos on the news and you’ve gotten a taste of the destruction Hurricane Harvey has brought. We want to let you know that our local community of Legionaries of Christ and the community of the Consecrated Women are safe and our houses did not get flooded or damaged. However, there are many Regnum Christi members whose homes did get flooded or whose family needed to evacuate during the storm. There is an incredible spirit of solidarity throughout Houston, and members have been reaching out to individual families or public shelters for displaced people to assist in any way needed.

 

We want to give you an update on where we’re at on the RC locality level for supporting the Harvey Relief efforts. We know that the devastation is immense and the road to recovery is long. We have been receiving an outpouring from your localities inquiring about how and when you can come in with groups to help us here in Houston. Currently, parts of the city are still waiting for water to go down and other parts are transitioning into an initial clean up phase. Therefore, we’ve asked a commission of RC members here to draw up a simple plan and process for relief missions we can offer officially as Regnum Christi/Mission Youth in the coming months. We are in communication with the Mission Youth National Office in the development of this plan and we will communicate it to you within the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, your prayers are the best support for everyone in this crisis. Additionally, you are welcome to send donations to any of the various relief organizations:

American Red Cross: Donations can be made directly to the American Red Cross to assist hurricane victims. To donate visit American Red Cross, call 1-800-REDCROSS or text the word HARVEY to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

Catholic Charities USA: Support their disaster relief efforts for #HurricaneHarvey and related floods. Text CCUSADISASTER to 71777 to donate.

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston: Catholic Charities is committed to providing Disaster Response and Disaster Recovery services to individuals and families dealing with the aftermath of natural disasters. Donate or learn more on their Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.

Adore Ministries: Our friends at Adore Ministries are collecting contact information of individuals who are able to help our neighbors throughout the Houston area. They will reach out when they know what the greatest needs are and have a firm plan of action. You can also make a tax-deductible donation designated to purchase supplies for flood relief and support our neighbors in need: adoreministries.com/support.

 

In Christ,

Fr. Eamonn Shelly, LC

 

Katie Tuttle

 

Carlos Escorcia