HOUSTON – One year after Hurricane Harvey, KPRC 2 is recognizing a man who put others' needs before his own -- even when he didn't have a place to call home.
High water separated Jacob Smith from his apartment after Hurricane Harvey flooded Kingwood. His neighborhood was under water. He could not reach his own home. He went to work setting up a temporary home for thousands of others.
“They were all out of their homes. Now we have a home that we can all stay in for a while,” Smith said.
Smith is a father of two who worked in facilities management for BakerRipley Community Developers. He helped set up the shelter at NRG Center.
“All of our neighbors are here because they don’t have a home to go to. They don’t have somewhere to cook, bathe or get clothes and they lost all of their possessions. And now we have a big shared home at NRG Center where I get to be papa," he said.
BakerRipley set up the shelter within 12 hours of the initial request from Harris County Judge Ed Emmett. The shelter opened on Aug. 29 and closed Sept. 23. Smith said more than 7,400 people from 110 cities stayed there, and more than 24,000 volunteers helped at the NRG shelter.
In about a month, 7,000 people called NRG Center home, even if only for a short time. Smith spent much of his time at NRG Center too. Days passed before the water went down and Smith could return home.
Warnings from his apartment complex that demolition was about to begin somehow ended up in his spam folder. When he did return home, the prized belongings he had placed high up, out of harm's way, were gone.
“They’d actually already started the demolition process. So the things that I had saved and that I was hoping to go back and get had actually gone through the demolition,” he said.
Smith’s home was gone, but he kept going. He quickly realized people needed help putting their home back together so they could stay safely.
He and others put together the home restoration program at Baker Ripley, where he is now the manager.
“Anything in a home structure that if you turn the home upside down and shook it and it doesn't fall out, that’s what I can help with. Anything less than the foundation so your flooring, trim, paint, sheetrock, insulation, stud work, roof work, patching, repairing, possibly repairing if there’s a need,” Smith said.
The program can even provide the materials and labor.
“I want to get a success story for every homeowner that I come into contact with," he said.
Smith and the program have helped nearly 260 families safety return home.
“What makes it a lot easier to have that smile on my face is the homeowners that show unencumbered appreciation for what we’ve come out and done," Smith said.
He knows there are people who still need help and says help is available at Harvey Home Connect.
Latest numbers from BakerRipley Disaster Recovery Services and the community impact:
1. Over the past 11 months, BakerRipley has worked with over 5,500 households (5,557) in the recovery.
2. BakerRipley has received more than 1,400 applications (1,403) for home restoration assistance.
3. The nonprofit distributed more than $5.2 million ($5,223,201) in financial assistance to roughly 2,600 families or individuals to address neighbors’ unmet needs such as furniture and appliance replacement, emergency and temporary housing, work-related expenses and medical bills.
4. More than 16,000 households (16,207) have been helped through the Neighborhood Restoration Centers through partnerships with the City of Houston and Harris County.