Gary, Indiana is hurting. On August 11, 2026, powerful storms tore through Northwest Indiana with winds reported as high as 99 miles per hour.
Gary, Indiana is hurting.
Photo by Jason Leung
On August 11, 2026, powerful storms tore through Northwest Indiana with winds reported as high as 99 miles per hour. Trees came down. Utility poles snapped. Homes were damaged. Electricity disappeared across entire neighborhoods.
Then the days began piling up. One day without electricity became several. Several became a week. For some families, the outage stretched toward two weeks. As of August 22, thousands of Northwest Indiana residents were still without electricity, with Gary among the communities hit especially hard. Full restoration in parts of Gary was not expected until August 25.
Think about what that actually means inside a home.
The refrigerator goes warm. Then the freezer. The groceries you stretched your money to buy have to be thrown away.
There is no air conditioning or fan. Phones have to be charged somewhere else. Medical equipment becomes a concern. Medicine that needs refrigeration becomes a concern. Traffic lights stop working. Gasoline, ice and hot food become precious commodities.
For parents, elders, people with disabilities, people living on fixed incomes and families already stretching every dollar, a prolonged blackout is not merely inconvenient. It can become a financial and physical emergency.
Gary residents have described exactly that. One resident told reporters that simply finding enough ice to preserve food and enough gasoline to drive around looking for more ice had become part of daily survival. Seven storm-related deaths had been reported across Indiana by August 18.
And yet something else has been happening in Gary. People have been feeding people.
Restaurants, churches, nonprofits, neighbors and community organizations have been figuring out what they have and sharing it. Some restaurants continued feeding residents despite taking serious financial losses themselves. World Central Kitchen arrived to support local efforts and provide meals.
That is beautiful. But community resilience should never become an excuse for the rest of us to look away.
Black communities in America are frequently praised for being resilient after circumstances that should have brought them far more help.
Gary does not need applause for surviving. Gary needs resources.
If You Want to Help Gary, Here Are Places to Start
Support the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana
The Food Bank of Northwest Indiana has been conducting mobile food distributions as families replace groceries lost during prolonged outages. It is also seeking volunteers to help with mobile markets.
This is particularly important because replacing an entire refrigerator and freezer full of food can cost a household hundreds of dollars.
Food Bank of Northwest Indiana
Help Sojourner Truth House
Sojourner Truth House provides assistance to people and families experiencing hunger, homelessness and economic hardship.
The organization accepts monetary donations, volunteers and needed supplies. Its current needs include food as well as household necessities such as children’s pull-ups, adult incontinence products, cleaning supplies and small appliances.
This is one of those times when seemingly ordinary donations can become extraordinarily useful.
Diapers matter.
Water matters.
Food matters.
Cleaning supplies matter.
A working microwave matters when somebody is rebuilding a household.
Support Catholic Charities’ Disaster Relief Work
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Gary has been helping residents with food, clothing, housing assistance and other needs following the storms. Its own Hunger Relief Center lost electricity during the disaster, forcing workers and volunteers to quickly move refrigerated and frozen food so it could still feed people rather than spoil.
Catholic Charities Diocese of Gary
Support the YWCA of Northwest Indiana
The YWCA in Gary has become an important emergency resource during the outage, providing shelter, meals, showers, electricity and charging opportunities. The location at 150 W. 15th Avenue was also listed by Indiana emergency officials as an American Red Cross shelter.
Support World Central Kitchen
World Central Kitchen is now working with local partners to provide meals to Gary families affected by the prolonged outages.
Importantly, the organization says it is working alongside people who were already feeding their own community rather than replacing those local efforts.
World Central Kitchen’s Gary Response
Volunteer With the City
People who live close enough to physically help can also volunteer through the City of Gary.
The city maintains volunteer opportunities involving neighborhood cleanup and beautification, community engagement and local events.
City of Gary Volunteer Program
Storm recovery does not end when the lights come back on. Fallen trees have to be removed. Property has to be cleaned. Damaged homes need attention. Families have to replace what was lost.
That work can last months.
Do Not Forget Gary’s Small Businesses
There is another way to help that may not immediately look like disaster relief:
Spend money in Gary. Local businesses lost enormous amounts of income while electricity was unavailable.
Joslyn Kelly, owner of J’s Breakfast Club, told Business Insider that her restaurant was without power for more than a week and estimated that she lost approximately $19,000 in sales. Yet she and her team still found ways to help feed people during the emergency.
That tells us something important about recovery. When conditions stabilize, visit Gary. Eat at a locally owned restaurant. Buy from a local shop. Hire a Gary business. Attend an event. Recommend a business. Leave a good review after receiving good service.
If you have a platform, introduce your audience to Gary entrepreneurs.
Disaster recovery is not only about what happens during the emergency. It is about whether the businesses that hold a community together are still standing six months later.
Gary Is More Than the Pictures We See After Something Goes Wrong
There is another reason I want us to pay attention.
Gary is a historically Black American city with an extraordinary cultural history.
It is a city of families, churches, entrepreneurs, workers, artists, teachers, children and elders. It is the hometown that gave the world the Jackson family, but Gary’s story has never belonged to celebrities alone.
Too often, struggling Black cities enter national conversation primarily when something terrible happens.
Crime. Poverty. Infrastructure failure. Disaster. Then the cameras leave. We should resist that pattern.
Helping Gary today means responding to an emergency. Caring about Gary tomorrow means remaining interested in whether families recover, whether small businesses survive, whether infrastructure improves and whether children inherit a city in which they can imagine a future.
If You Cannot Give Much, Give Small
Please do not believe that helping requires wealth.
Ten people giving $10 creates $100.
A church can collect diapers.
A workplace can organize bottled water and household supplies.
A book club can choose one Gary organization and raise money.
A family can skip one takeout meal and donate what it would have spent.
Someone with a large online following can share verified relief information.
Someone with no following at all can send this information to five people.
We do not have to solve everything before we are willing to do something.
And when the electricity finally comes back on, remember this:
Power restoration is the beginning of recovery, not the end of it.
Families will still have refrigerators to refill.
Businesses will still have revenue to recover.
People will still have damaged homes and unexpected expenses.
Community organizations will still be serving people long after Gary disappears from national headlines.
So if you have been wondering what you can do, choose something.
Give. Volunteer. Buy. Share. Visit.Keep watching.
Because sometimes solidarity is not a grand gesture.
Sometimes it is simply refusing to look away while your neighbors are rebuilding.
Volunteer and Community Support
- Food and Meal Distribution: Local organizations like the Salvation Army, NAACP Gary Branch, and Operation Gary Rescue are providing hot meals and food boxes at multiple locations across Gary and nearby areas capitalbnews.org+1.
- Shelters and Emergency Housing: The YWCA (150 W. 15th Ave., Gary) and Monroe Center (4101 Washington St., Gary) offer 24/7 shelter and support gary.gov.
- Medical Support: Oxygen refill stations are available at Indiana University Northwest (Lot #9, 3301 Broadway, Gary) for home-use patients affected by the storm gary.gov.
Reporting and Assistance
- Report Storm Damage: Residents should report damage to Indiana 211 by calling 211 or 866-211-9966, or using the online tool at IN211.org. This helps the state and FEMA allocate resources effectively gary.gov+1.
- Gary 311: Use the Gary 311 system to report non-emergency issues, storm debris, or downed trees. Submit requests online at gary.gov/311, via the app, or by calling (219) 881-1311Â gary.gov.
Financial and Housing Assistance
- Indiana State Disaster Relief Fund: Provides up to $5,000 per household for food, clothing, home repairs, utilities, temporary housing, and transportation indyblackbusinesses.com+1.
- Temporary Housing: Emergency hotel vouchers and disaster rental assistance are available through the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority. Call 211 or the Red Cross at 1-800-733-2767 for referrals indyblackbusinesses.com.
Food and Essential Supplies
- Food Pantries and Distribution Centers: Food Bank of Northwest Indiana, Salvation Army Gary-Merrillville Corps, and local churches are distributing food and supplies. Check daily schedules as locations and times may change capitalbnews.org+1.
- SNAP Replacement: Residents who lost food due to power outages or flooding can submit State Form 40988 within 10 days to replace lost benefits indyblackbusinesses.com.
Safety and Cleanup
- Turn off gas and electricity before entering flooded buildings and have an electrician inspect before restoring power.
- Avoid downed electrical lines and contaminated floodwater.
- Dispose of food, furniture, and items touched by floodwater to prevent health hazards.
- Report unsafe trees or debris to Gary 311 for assessment and removal gary.gov.
By donating, volunteering, or helping residents access these resources, you can make a meaningful impact in Gary’s recovery from the recent storms.