We've got an urgent situation in Dallas. @NotMySonDFW has put up approximately 600 families across 6 hotels but have run into a cash squeeze. Their @CashApp account is restricted and families may be kicked out of the hotel if they cannot pay down the money today. (1/)
The stories I've heard about what has happened to these families are horrific.
If anyone can bring CASH, that would be helpful. Drop off location La Quinta 13175 N Central Expressway.
(2/)
For those out of town, please consider donating via Venmo
85 out of 89 of the rooms at one La Quinta inn are occupied by families helped by @NotMySonDFW.
This is an urgent situation.
(5/)
Big shouts out to @hosanna4dallas who was helping out at La Quinta last night.
(6/)
I'm here now at the La Quinta in North Dallas. Lots of families here in the lobby. The anger is palpable.
(7/)
I've heard tragic stories. One mother of five who has been on unemployment faced massive damages to her home. If she gets kicked out of the hotel, she doesn't know where they'll go.
Yesterday she applied for FEMA disaster assistance. Today she found out she was denied.
(8/)
Another mother of three spent much of last year moving between shelters with her children. She had only recently been able to move into an apartment. Her pipes froze and they lost a lot of their property. Now she does not know where they will go.
(9/)
One elderly woman who relies on insulin and had to evacuate her apartment due to burst pipes was told by @AARP that she would have to pay for a hotel stay out of her own pocket. She's on fixed income and couldn't afford it.
(10/)
Now I'm at a Ramada off Regal Row where @NotMySonDFW is working to ensure that families will be able to continue to stay.
(11/)
If you cannot donate any other way, go to NOTMYSONDALLAS.COM and you can donate via PayPal.
(12/)
Volunteers are also needed. We Take The Streets showed up in force.
(13/)
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I've received information that Camp Rhonda, which I have written several stories about, will be shut down by the property owner, Johnny Aguinaga. Previously, the city of Dallas had given him a citation notice which potentially could have cost him up to $5,000 a day.
Recently, Johnny Aguinaga had been posting about how he had a plan to solve homelessness in Dallas. Notably, Johnny is a real estate developer who is also running for city council.
I have placed a request for information to the city of Dallas to understand if anything was done on their end to influence this decision, and whether they have any intention to have a plan to help the residents of Camp Rhonda
Hey Texas, if you've been very upset about the way your local and state government has handled this crisis, I would encourage you to start thinking about starting campaigns to Unelect Your Government.
It really doesn't take that many votes to unseat a city council or state rep.
Some of them might say things like "We didn't see this coming, no one could have predicted this!"
And that will be total bullshit! This was forecasted by @NatGeo back in January!
Some of them may also say that now is not the time to politicize the crisis. Which will also be total bullshit! Because they are politicians and it's their entire job to do politics! And shitty politics is what caused this crisis to spin out of control!
Some mutual aid groups in Texas have had their @Venmo and @CashApp accounts put on hold due to the influx of donations and the large amount of disbursements to meet the demand for relief across Texas.
Basically, all of Texas' infrastructure is now in a state of failure. Millions are without power. Hundreds of thousands of people if not millions currently do not have access to drinking water. Hundreds of thousands of people's homes are likely to be damaged by bursting pipes.
This disaster has unleashed untold suffering on the population of a state that has suffered greatly over the past year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Our state government has failed us.
It is unclear how long it will take to correct for the damage done by this winter hell storm.