The news of Hurricane Harvey was hard enough to bear even before the real destruction began. As a born and raised Houstonian, I felt guilty for enjoying the end-of-summer New York weather while my friends and family back home struggled to evacuate the city or even find the supplies to brace for the storm in their own homes.

Hurricane Harvey has left at least 82 dead, according to the latest news from Texas officials. While this number may not seem high compared to the 50 counties that Harvey flooded, the true number of those who lost their lives to the storm cannot be calculated until weeks to come. Many families and individuals are still struggling to grasp the idea that Harvey, leaving them with little to nothing to their name, has now washed their lives away.

Around 80 percent of homeowners in Houston and the greater Houston area are without flood insurance, according to the Washington Post as well as USA Today. This means that only around 20 percent of Houstonians affected by Harvey have a guaranteed means of rebuilding their homes, as opposed to the other 80 percent who must find their own means of doing this.

According to the 2016 U.S. Census, 22.5 percent of people living in Houston and the surrounding areas are considered to be living in poverty, which is 2.6 percent more than the poverty rate in New York City and only .2 percent less than the poverty rate in Chicago, according to the same census. That being said, most of the people who are not covered by flood insurance cannot afford to rebuild their lives, as they struggled financially before the devastation of Harvey.

While the poverty level does affect Houston citizens, it also affects other aspects, such as the public schools. There are currently 283 schools within the Houston Independent School District, and of those 283 schools, 202 schools were able to return on Sept. 11 and another 81 on Sept. 25. However, calculated in the 81 schools are nine schools that are being relocated due to the fact that the damage that the buildings suffered were more than what could be repaired within one school year, according to HISD’s website.

While it is great that the schools in Houston are reopening in a timely manner, it is not to say that they will be equipped for the upcoming school year. The Texas Education Agency identified 300 Title 1 schools (a school with a low-income rate of 40 percent or above) in Texas in 2016. Of the 300 identified, 16 were high-performing schools within HISD alone.

Title 1 schools receive extra funding from the state in order to help supply the students with necessary tools to allow them to excel. However, even with this small amount of extra funding, Title 1 schools still lack the necessities that other schools have. Items as simple as backpacks and notebooks cannot be afforded by the students attending these schools, so in turn the teachers use their own money to supply the students with the tools they need for success. Harvey washed away most of, if not all of, the supplies that the schools and teachers previously provided for the students for the upcoming year. The task of buying new supplies in addition to a new family house, car and personal belongings among other things is devastating to a child.

While I couldn’t stand beside my city in their time of need, I knew I had to do something. I began a GoFundMe page to support restocking the school supplies of the schools affected by Harvey in HISD on Aug. 30. Since that date, my campaign has raised over $1,400 and is still accepting donations. The support that I have received from my New York friends has been outstanding and I hope to continue the efforts. Providing HISD students with school supplies seems like the least I can do to help the children of Houston adjust to their new lives.

To donate to my drive, search “HISD Post-Harvey Classroom Supplies” on GoFundMe.com.