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With 15 Greater Houston area locations, the Houston Red Cross is ready to help.

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Our Mission & Charter

The American Red Cross, a humanitarian organization led by volunteers and guided by its Congressional Charter and the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross Movement, will provide relief to victims of disaster and help people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies.

 
Although the Red Cross is a charity, not a government agency, its authority to provide disaster relief was formalized when, in 1905, the Red Cross was chartered by Congress to "carry on a system of national and international relief in time of peace and apply the same in mitigating the sufferings caused by pestilence, famine, fire, floods and other great national calamities, and to devise and carry on measures for preventing the same."  The charter is not only a grant of power, but also imposes upon the Red Cross duties and obligations to our nation and our partners oversears, to disaster victims and to the people who generously support our work with their donations.