Lone Star College (LSC) in Houston, Texas is offering financial aid to students and employees impacted by the winter storm last month.
The LSC Weather Emergency Assistance Fund was set up using funds from the college system bookstore and other auxiliary funds to provide grants of up to $250 to help people with water damage repairs. So far, the emergency fund has provided $100,000 to students and $100,000 to staff for emergency assistance.
“I know so many of our students and employees suffered unforeseen damage due to the weather,” LSC Chancellor Stephen C. Head said. “That is why Lone Star College has set aside auxiliary funds for emergency grants.”
This Thursday Lone Star College-Houston North will be distributing food in partnership with @YMCAHouston and the @HoustonFoodBank. Spread the word!
Thursday, Feb 25
From 11 a.m. – till supplies last
LSC-HN Greenspoint:
250 N Sam Houston Pkwy E, Houston, TX 77060 pic.twitter.com/aky6eNTQoF— LSC-Houston North (@LSCHoustonNorth) February 23, 2021
Students enrolled in credit courses or in workforce certificate programs can apply for assistance by affirming they incurred weather-related expenses. Faculty and other employees must also affirm that they were financially impacted by the adverse weather conditions.
Helping Hands
After record-breaking low temperatures and winter storms forced dozens of colleges and universities to close for several days, many schools have stepped up to support people who have been affected.
In addition to LCS, the two largest Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in Texas — Prairie View A&M University and Texas Southern University — played an outsized role in helping their students during the winter storm. The HBCUs transformed parts of their campus into “warming centers” and stepped up to make food and water available to students living both on- and off-campus.
In some cases, bad conditions caused widespread power outages across the southern and central parts of the country. In one such case, students at McMurry University in Abilene, Texas were forced to find alternative sources of water for dormitory bathrooms since the city’s water supply was cut off due to “multiple redundancies of the power grid failing.”
There were reports of students using melted snow as back-up. University Athletic Director Sam Ferguson tweeted a photograph showing students filling up coolers with pool water to flush toilets.
Our @mcmurryreslife staff is amazing. With Abilene water service temporarily unavailable, our RAs, with the help of @McMURRYFOOTBALL, filled up coolers with water from the pool so that our bathrooms remain operable. Grateful for the innovation and effort. pic.twitter.com/hR4jubvHLQ
— Sam Ferguson (@samferguson1974) February 16, 2021
