Harvey Fund for Kelly Lambert

Hurricane Harvey has affected everyone in the Houston community. Including those who have been strong for their community before the storm. My name is Ari and I am a roller derby teammate of Kelly Lambert (aka "Chick Fury"). I am located in Houston, and I am raising funds to help recover her losses from Hurricane Harvey,  pay her medical bills, and cover her living expenses for the foreseeable future. All funds will be released directly to her to use as needed while she is without a job, home, and car.

In March after leaving her job,  Kelly suffered a severe liver laceration during a roller derby game.  She was released after a painful week in the hospital and has been healing ever since. Despite the financial, physical, and emotional burden of the injury, Kelly has stayed active as President of Yellow Rose Derby Girls.  Her leadership, support, and coaching have helped our league grow and helped steer the All Star team achieve a six-game winning streak.

During her recovery, Kelly was living with one of our teammates when Hurricane Harvey struck. Here is her story in her words:

"Yesterday was the scariest day of my life. Never did I think I would experience life threatening catastrophe of this level.

Yesterday I woke up to the house flooding. We knew we couldn't stay but didn't know what to do. We decided to try and walk to a friend's home and hunker down on their second level. We loaded up backpacks and left, using an air mattress as a flotation device. Within 10 minutes the water was up to our necks. Thankfully, we found a Houston firefighter and he told us to turn around and go to the holding area in the Kroger parking lot. "That way is death" is literally what he told us. He assisted the rest of our evacuation.

We waited outside in the rain at Kroger for two hours before being loaded into the back of dump trucks. Cesar and Louis weren't allowed in our truck and had to go separately. The dump trucks took us to a staging area in the middle of 610. The roads were empty and every surrounding neighborhood was flooded completely. We waited and watched air rescues that were underway. It was eerie. It was heartbreaking to watch people in need crying, worrying, hugging their children. But people were helping each other.

We were unloaded from the dump trucksand loaded into the back of a National Guard vehicle. We proceeded in a convoy to a church shelter in Bellaire. But it was full. So we waited for hours until the convoy was finally rerouted to the George R Brown Convention Center. At this point we had all been soaking wet with rain and flood water for more than 12 hours. After some detours we finally made it and met back up with Cesar and Louis and settled in for the night.

This morning we left the shelter and made it to an apartment which will hopefully be safe for the time that we're here. Due to the kindness of many people we have food, water, and power.

The storm isn't over and I can't even begin to process the the losses that we, and so many others, have suffered. Nor do I know what will happen next. But for now, I am safe and dry along with Nikki Show and her family and doggos. And so so thankful for all the volunteers, officers, and friends who step up to help and save lives when a tragedy like this strikes."

No one can go through recovery alone. If you are a friend, loved one, part of the roller derby community, a Houstonian, or just have compassion in your heart, she could use all the help she can get.