In just about a week, I will send my daughter to school for the first time and for the first time, Democracy Prep will be led by a parent of a school-aged child.

Her welcome to school letter had a list of supplies – nap mat, changes of clothes, lunchbox, backpack, thermos, immunization forms and a paint smock. (She’s starting pre-school.)

For our neighbors looking to start school in Texas, the list they have now is very different – clean water, dry clothes, formula, diapers, food. Families were displaced and left with nothing, not even a picture or stuffed animal to hold.

The power of a school lies in moments like these. Schools are the centers of our communities. They offer education, support and safety. Schools are centers for opportunities. The quicker we can return schools to our communities, the faster we can begin healing.

Let us all endeavor to support Houston’s kids and their return to school. This link from the New York Times offers a number of different ways to do that.

Mr. Rogers said, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”

Let us send boats, backpacks, love, prayers, money.

But above all else, let us be helpers.