Household Recovery Fund

Hurricaine Harvey struck the United States on August 25, 2017, impacting millions of people living in around the Gulf Coast.  

My name is Patricia Oprysko, and I live in Philadelphia, PA.  My family and I were stuck in a holding pattern here trying to figure out what could be done for my brother and his wife, James and Jane Oprysko, who live in Lumberton, TX.  They were told to shelter in place -- no one was expecting the catastrophic levels of rain from a stalled hurricaine.  Communication was as difficult, all we were getting were photos through social media, and quick exhanged via SMS spaced out over hours to preserve battery power.  The first time I have "seen" them in five years was through a video shot by the Washington Post.

Their house was literally sunk, along with their neighbors, and had been completely under water for over four days.

Today, the water has receeded, and they are back on their property.  Today is the day they are sifting through what is left of their possessions, as there was no way they could get anything out of the area of their neighborhood but their pets, themselves, and a trash bag holding medication and other necessities (as they and their neighbors were sheltering on a high patch of road in vehicles, and needed to be brought out via boat).

Many people have asked what they need, and the issue is they need essentially everything: clothing, pet food, tooth brushes -- imagine re-building a life from scratch, and everything around you needing to be replaced.

The issue is James is stubborn, and he isn't saying any of this to anyone.  Our mother taught us "pride before the fall", but another family lesson is that "Opryskos learn everything the hard way".  

My brother has already gone through enough "hard ways", between struggling with his M.S. diagnosis, needing to retire from his career and going onto disability (which is never a smooth transition for anyone), and now with every last thing in his house likely gone forever (which includes furniture and objects that belonged to our late father), despite what he is saying, is just too much to bear.  If he says he is going to "handle this", I want him to be able to do it as esily as possible, and also give this opportunity to all the people who want to help him, and he's not telling anyone how.

This fundraiser is to help replace all of Jim and Jane's things that have been destroyed by the hurricaine flooding:

*  clothing

*  food

*  pet supplies

*  toiletries

*  replacement costs for vital paperworks and certificates

* medications

* household linens

* kitchen supplies

* furniture

* anything else there is money left for that "can be replaced".

I have set the goal at 5,000 because despite being 43, I am barely an adult, and therefore I think that's how much it would cost.  I am very likely wrong.

Anything you can pitch in at this moment will help Jim, Jane, and all of their fuzzies tremendously.