• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

everywomanover29

Food, Mood and Women's Health – Be your healthiest, look and feel great!

  • Blog
  • About
  • Services
  • Store
  • Resources
  • Testimonials
  • Media
  • The Book
  • Contact

heroes

Hurricane Harvey: stories of heroes, hope, inspiration and healing

September 1, 2017 By Trudy Scott Leave a Comment

Today’s blog is about heroes, hope, inspiration and healing for all those affected by Hurricane Harvey. One of the many heroes is McCall McPherson, a new friend, who I met in person for the first time at a nutrition business event just last month. McCall solves complex thyroid issues, and practices functional medicine and integrative psychiatry in Austin, Texas.

Here is a snippet from the video on KXAN where she shares her inspiration and plans to use social media to coordinate thousands of flood rescues:

When McCall McPherson and her husband Casey heard about all the flooding in Houston, they wanted to help. Casey decided he and a friend would drive a boat down south and try to rescue stranded Hurricane Harvey survivors. But McCall wondered how she could help while still caring for her two toddlers at home.

“I created a way to connect rescuers to people in need because my husband was about to be a rescuer and I had no idea where to send him,” said McCall.

McCall created an interactive map online for flood victims to pin their location if they needed help. She then linked that map to a Facebook page to communicate with people about the rescues, getting locations and phone numbers. “We’re in real-time, so it’s [posts like] ‘family holding three babies above their head, water up to neck.’ And you’re telling [rescuers] get there, get there, get there,” explains McCall.

A few friends and thousands of strangers started acting as dispatchers, connecting victims with rescuers, including the Coast Guard and self-proclaimed “Cajun Navy.” The page that started with McCall and two other people, now has more than 2,300 members.

You can read the full story and watch the inspiring video clip on the KXAN site and find the page #Harvey911 here.

It’s called Houston Area Harvey Rescue Group: for victims and boat rescuers, and this story of hope and helping is so special to me because I’m honored to be a very small part of it. I am one of those “dispatchers” connecting victims with rescuers and I’ve been doing it from afar i.e. from Sydney, Australia. I was inspired to jump in and help as soon as McCall started it, wanting to be of service but not knowing how I could help from so far away. As soon as I saw all the desperate cries for help on the social media sites of the local TV stations I knew I could try and help connect them with the volunteer rescue teams McCall and the volunteers were coordinating. Myself and a colleague in the UK, Kiran Ram, who works with women helping them balance their hormones, worked the “night shift” helping as best we could.

These are a few of the kinds of cries for help we responded to: a brother’s request for help for his sister who was under water with her kids; a son desperate to rescue his disabled papa; a mother’s plea for help for her family in above-knee-deep-water – a 2-month old, a 3 year old, a 6 year old, a 9 year old, husband and father in law; an elderly couple whose phone was dying, had no water and were running out of food. And what joy and relief to then hear from these complete strangers that their loved ones were safe!

A volunteer dispatcher, Monica (and someone I feel I know like a dear friend even though we have never met), shares this in the group:

Part of our work is that moment in being able to track down and inform a loved one or other concerned citizen that the person(s) they are worried about are safe. The rescues are obviously the cake. But that moment of “YAY” exchanged on the other end of the mission between volunteers who never gave up and family and friends who never gave up on another person(s) — that’s the most delicious icing on the cake.

Working with all these amazing volunteers who just give-give-give, has been an amazing experience. It shows we can all do something no matter where we are!

I’d like to share two more inspiring stories about heroes from Hurricane Harvey.

Jim McIngvale, ‘Mattress Mack’ on A More Perfect Union

In this CBS series called A More Perfect Union they highlight examples of people coming together to show that what unites us is far greater than what divides us. One such person is Jim McIngvale:

Countless people have demonstrated extraordinary acts of humanity to help flood victims. Already a local hero, Jim McIngvale – known as Mattress Mack – has become a national symbol of hope in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

On Sunday night he welcomed hundreds of people looking for refuge into his Gallery Furniture Stores. He also sent out trucks into the flood looking for those in need of safe passage

“I’m part capitalist and part social worker and this is what I like to do,” he said.

You can read the entire story and watch the heartfelt and hope-inspiring video here

Catalina offering warm soup to neighbors as shown on ABC13 Houston

And finally, Catalina and her family (and countless others like this) are heroes for their kindness to neighbors in trouble. Her father says: “what do you do when there’s nothing you can do, but you can’t do nothing? You do what you can” – and you offer warm soup to your neighbors. ABC13 Houston says: “Thank you to 5-year-old Catalina and her family for being #HoustonStrong and offering hot soup to neighbors.” You can watch the heart-warming and tummy-warming video here

I’d like to end with a part of this message that McCall posted in the #Harvey911 rescue group a few days ago:

I did a TEDx talk this year around the concept of us changing the world not by our professions, but by our ability to remain tethered to the humanity of every person we encounter. After spending 60 some hours in rescue efforts connecting strangers, some completely around to globe, you have absolutely solidified this concept in my mind. We are changing the city of Houston by being tethered to this despite exhausted, sleep deprivation, pain, hunger, stress, and hopelessness, to the humanity of those people standing in waist high water, of women who have been trapped on their roof with their babies, elderly in nursing homes, and parents literally holding their children above rising water.

This is so true but this rescue effort is just the start, next is the healing and rebuilding. McCall is now gathering a group of volunteers and they are in the early stages of planning a benefit concert for the Harvey victims. The actual benefit will take place on September 23rd in Austin, Texas. I’ll share details here as soon as I have more information about the event. The band Alpha Rev, which Casey is a part of, will be performing.

Thank you McCall McPherson for your vision, courage and inspiration! I am proud to call you my friend! Thank you Casey and all of you rescuers in the boats! And thank you to everyone involved in this crowd-sourced rescue group and everyone else helping all these families who are in need – people like Jim McIngvale and Catalina and her family! People offering meals, places to stay, helping with clean-up and doing their thing to help.

And to every single person impacted by Hurricane Harvey – we’ve got you and you will get through this! As McCall likes to say: #StrengthInNeighbors. It’s a beautiful thing!

I’ll be back with more on the fundraiser and more on how we can help both the rescuers and those who have been rescued with nutritional support for the lack of sleep, and the anxiety, fear, worry and trauma they have all been exposed to.

Please share your ideas of how we can help these communities. And if you are in one of the affected communities let us know how we can help.

If you have an inspiring story please share it too. We need all the hope and inspiration we can get right now!

UPDATE September 9th 2017: Hurricane Harvey Benefit, September 23rd, 2017, Austin, TX

I’d like to share this wonderful message from McCall McPherson, a huge hero of the Harvey rescues:

When tragedy strikes oftentimes we can feel helpless, leading to inaction. More than anything, this crowdsourced rescue campaign #StrengthInNeightbors has shown me that regular people, despite feeling helpless, can come together and make an enormous impact.

After our efforts rescued thousands, we want to do more and we want you to do it with us. Join us, Alpha Rev, The Wind and The Wave and Suzanna Choffel on Sept 23 at Parlor & Yard to support #Harvey victims long into the future. We have created a unique way to facilitate lasting help and lifelong community by having families and businesses sponsor victims. This means they commit to donating a set amount of funds each month for a year, offering people stability in a time of utter chaos. This also offers a platform to build community and relationships with one another.

Please join us and see what a difference you can truly make in the lives of others, and discover what #StrengthInNeighbors really means.

You can purchase your ticket here.

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: healing, heroes, hope, Houston, Hurricane Harvey, inspiration, Jim McIngvale, McCall McPherson

Primary Sidebar

FREE REPORT

9 Great Questions Women Ask about Food, Mood and their Health

You’ll also receive a complimentary subscription to my ezine “Food, Mood and Gal Stuff”

Success! Check your inbox for our email with a download link.

Connect with me

Recent Posts

  • 5-HTP benefits both adopted daughters who had prenatal exposure to alcohol: they are happier, more focused and can stay on task
  • Imposter syndrome and neurotransmitter support: I feel like the person I’m supposed to become
  • Tryptophan for my teenager: she laughs and smiles, her OCD and anxiety has lessened, and she is more goal oriented and focused on school.
  • The Thyroid Reset Diet: Reverse Hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s Symptoms with a Proven Iodine-Balancing Plan by Dr. Alan Christianson
  • The effect of emotional freedom technique on nurses’ stress, anxiety, and burnout levels during the pandemic

Categories

  • 5-HTP
  • AB575
  • Addiction
  • ADHD
  • Adrenals
  • Alzheimer's disease
  • Amino Acids
  • Antianxiety
  • Antianxiety Food Solution
  • Antidepressants
  • Anxiety
  • Anxiety and panic
  • Anxiety Summit 5
  • Anxiety Summit 6
  • Autism
  • Autoimmunity
  • benzodiazapines
  • Bipolar disorder
  • Books
  • Caffeine
  • Cancer
  • Candida
  • Children
  • Cooking equipment
  • Coronavirus/COVID-19
  • Cravings
  • Depression
  • Detoxification
  • Diabetes
  • Diet
  • Drugs
  • EFT/Tapping
  • EMF
  • EMFs
  • Emotional Eating
  • Environment
  • Essential oils
  • Events
  • Exercise
  • Fear of public speaking
  • Fertility and Pregnancy
  • Fish
  • Food
  • Food and mood
  • Functional neurology
  • GABA
  • Gene polymorphisms
  • General Health
  • Giving
  • Giving back
  • Glutamine
  • Gluten
  • GMOs
  • Gratitude
  • Gut health
  • Heart health
  • Histamine
  • Hormone
  • Immune system
  • Inflammation
  • Insomnia
  • Inspiration
  • Introversion
  • Joy and happiness
  • Ketogenic diet
  • Looking awesome
  • Lyme disease and co-infections
  • Medication
  • Mental health
  • Mercury
  • Migraine
  • Mold
  • Movie
  • MTHFR
  • Music
  • NANP
  • Nature
  • Nutritional Psychiatry
  • OCD
  • Oxalates
  • Oxytocin
  • Pain
  • Paleo
  • Parasites
  • People
  • Postpartum
  • PTSD
  • Pyroluria
  • Questionnaires
  • Real whole food
  • Recipes
  • Research
  • serotonin
  • SIBO
  • Sleep
  • Special diets
  • Stress
  • Sugar addiction
  • Sugar and mood
  • Supplements
  • Teens
  • Testimonials
  • Testing
  • The Anxiety Summit
  • The Anxiety Summit 2
  • The Anxiety Summit 3
  • The Anxiety Summit 4
  • Thyroid
  • Thyroid health
  • Toxins
  • Tryptophan
  • Uncategorized
  • Vegan/vegetarian
  • Women's health
  • Yoga

Archives

  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • July 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • November 2009

Copyright © 2021 Trudy Scott. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy | Terms of Use | Refund Policy