Uvalde families need help; donations take months to deliver

UVALDE, Texas (AP) — Jessica Treviño’s 11-year-old daughter was attending Robb Elementary School on May 24, when a gunman fatally shot 19 children and two teachers. She was not physically hurt. But in the nearly two months since, she has suffered from anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder — conditions that have required up to $1,500 a week in physical and emotional care.

The Treviños currently qualify for some of the millions of dollars that have been raised to help shooting victims and survivors — but they haven't seen any of it yet. Such funds normally take months to administer and distribute. That reality has not been conveyed effectively, however, to families in dire need of help now.

During a packed city council meeting in Uvalde on Tuesday, multiple people shouted out questions from their seats about why financial relief seemed to be taking so long. City leaders have offered little clarity — and seemed to be just as confused.

“These families cannot begin to heal unless they are given time to grieve free from financial worry,” Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin and state Sen. Roland Gutierrez stated in a letter sent last week to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. The mayor and lawmaker said they had both received “numerous troubling reports” of people receiving insufficient financial resources aside from a two weeks' bereavement benefit. They cited one family that was struggling to keep the lights on while a child was hospitalized.

At least $14 million has been raised in private and corporate donations for families affected by the shooting. All have been combined in the Uvalde Together We Rise fund, which will be administered by a local steering committee with guidance from national experts.

But creating a plan to ensure that the funds are distributed equitably...