A mattress store owner, motivated by his Catholic faith, opened his business to evacuees from Hurricane Harvey and quickly became one of the crisis' heroes and a symbol of Houston's resilience.

Catholic Charities leads humanitarian and relief efforts across Texas in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

“I cannot compare it to anything,” Donna Markham, O.P., president of Catholic Charities USA, says of the storm. “The expanse of it…it is bigger than Katrina. The loss of life has not been as great as Katrina, but the damage is just monumental.”

Immigrants face prejudice and hate-filled laws, but a devastating hurricane caused people of all races and religions to open their doors to the stranger.

The impact of the Trump foreign aid reductions, if enacted, “would be swift, devastating, and felt for years to come, imperiling millions of lives and the course of global development, stability, and partnership.”

Many have simply walked from the city to the desert camps, a distance of 20 to 30 kilometers, says Mr. El-Mahdi. Now they confront hunger, thirst and the desert’s unforgiving sun. “The summer heat is brutal.”