Red Cross emergency shelter manager talks with Woodlands Online, offers help to community

THE WOODLANDS, TX – In times of need, the American Red Cross has been a driving, comforting, active force since its inception in 1881 by Clara Barton. Not for the first time, Woodlands area residents have found solace at Sts. Simon & Jude Catholic Parish, located at 26777 Glen Loch Dr., which has once again been converted to a fully functional Red Cross emergency shelter, one of several scattered throughout the area. At this shelter, Red Cross workers are on hand to provide meals, a place to cool off, and a safe place to sleep.

Woodlands Online visited this shelter and sat down with its manager, Tom Kelly, a parish member, Woodlands resident, and semi-retired businessman. He began by talking about the facility used for the shelter and the people who run it.

“The Saint Simon and Jude campus here in The Woodlands is qualified to be a Red Cross shelter. We have a commercial kitchen, we have dormitory space, we have showers, so we have everything that’s required to be qualified as a shelter,” he said. “The way it operates is, we are under the Red Cross umbrella and all the volunteers that work here are Red Cross certified, but they’re all members of Saint Simons parish. We’re unique in that we all know each other. We all live here. We know the facility; this is our church. So it’s much easier for us to function efficiently because we have so much knowledge of each other and the facility.”

The church was first used as a Red Cross emergency shelter right around the time Hurricane Harvey hit the area in 2017 and has opened its doors to those in need several times since. Typically, when necessary, the Red Cross calls the church’s pastor, Father Pat Garrett, and requests that the church be used as a shelter. Garrett then notifies the managers, and logistics are quickly worked out, such as getting a large generator hooked up, while volunteers are called in.

“So it takes us about three hours to from the time that they ask us to open until we can open, because it takes us some time to to get all our volunteers contacted and scheduled while the Red Cross delivers the the cots and the comfort kits of toothpaste and toothbrushes and soap and things of that nature,” said Kelly. “When that all gets here, we get as many people involved as possible. The Boy Scouts will come in and set up all the cots for us and we’ll have everybody check in the people who show up.”

While sometimes in extreme heat the shelter is used as a cooling station, in more dire circumstances – such as the aftermath of Beryl – multiple services are needed. “We provide a safe space from a disaster, and each disaster is different. We’ve had hurricanes, we’ve had floods, we’ve had freezes.”

Several people who pass through the doors have medical needs, and the shelter is equipped to power oxygen machines and other equipment needed in separate rooms designed for this purpose. But many people – up to 200 at a time – are there for human essentials like three meals a day, showers, a place to sleep, and relief from the heat. For those who have had property damage and other housing issues, Kelly and his crews will give them information on how to contact FEMA and the various state, county, and federal agencies that can provide assistance and guidance and more.

Those who need the shelter are encouraged to show between the hours of 8 a.m. through 8 p.m. for the duration of this weather-related emergency and beyond. A check-in procedure and vetting process are quick and efficient. From dry clothes to diapers, from food to entertainment for the young ones, Kelly is proud of the community for supplying them.

“I mean, there isn't an organization that doesn't try to help, right? Various restaurants have stepped up, and Interfaith of The Woodlands has done so much.Because we’re at the church, we have a lot of ministries here that wouldn’t be at a normal Red Cross shelter. We have Saint Vincent de Paul for special needs for young ones, and we have a ministry called the Angel’s Closet, which provides clothing.”

When talking with Tom, Woodlands Online was surprised to discover that the shelter was pet-friendly, to an extent. “We don’t let pets inside the shelter unless they’re service animals. But Montgomery CountyAnimal Services bring us kennels, dog food, things like that and and the pets can stay out on our porch and the kennel. Initially when we started opening this ten years ago, we said it was going to be no pets. Then we start to think about it. If it was you, would you leave your dog at home? That’s another stressful thing that we can eliminate from people. So if someone is here for an extended period, we work with the county’s Humane Society, who will take in the pet on a temporary basis.

Woodlands Online encourages anyone in need to take advantage of this shelter and any other emergency services offered by the Red Cross and other agencies.

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