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Texas has a reputation as a gun-totin', gun-lovin' state — and for good reason.

The Lone Star State has more licensed firearm dealers than any other state in addition to some of the loosest gun laws in the nation. The National Rifle Association held its 2018 annual convention in Dallas, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has publicly stated, "I will sign whatever legislation reaches my desk that expands Second Amendment rights in Texas."

But not all Texans are opposed to reasonable gun legislation.

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo shared his response to the Santa Fe High School shooting on Facebook. Photo via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.

After the Santa Fe school shooting, Houston's police chief shared a heartfelt Facebook post shutting down gun rights advocates.

Eight students and two teachers were shot and killed by a gunman at Santa Fe High School, located less than an hour outside of Houston on May 19, 2018. Police Chief Art Acevedo took to Facebook to share his thoughts.

"Today I spent the day dealing with another mass shooting of children and a responding police officer who is clinging to life. I'm not ashamed to admit I've shed tears of sadness, pain and anger," he began.

Then he spoke straight to gun rights advocates: "I know some have strong feelings about gun rights but I want you to know I've hit rock bottom and I am not interested in your views as it pertains to this issue. Please do not post anything about guns aren't the problem and there's little we can do."

Like many Americans, Acevedo seems to be fed up with people responding to the gunning down of children in their classrooms with defense of guns and tired arguments that there's nothing that can be done.

[rebelmouse-image 19345981 dam="1" original_size="575x624" caption="Image via Art Acevedo/Facebook." expand=1]Image via Art Acevedo/Facebook.

He decried the "hatred being spewed in our country" then addressed the routine "thoughts and prayers" response from lawmakers.

"This isn't a time for prayers, and study and inaction, it's a time for prayers, action and the asking of God's forgiveness for our inaction (especially the elected officials that ran to the cameras today, acted in a solemn manner, called for prayers, and will once again do absolutely nothing)."

Take note, politicians: He is done with all the apathy. And he's not alone.

We need more voices of authority and influence to speak out for reasonable gun legislation.

Acevado leads a department of 5,200 sworn law enforcement officers and 1,200 civilian support personnel in Houston. Before that, he led a department of 2,500 officers and support personnel in Austin. As a highly visible, well-respected leader in law enforcement in one of the largest jurisdictions in America, he has more influence than most.

When people like Acevado speak, others will listen. And we need more of those people to make their voices heard in the ongoing debate on gun violence in our nation.

[rebelmouse-image 19345982 dam="1" original_size="730x267" caption="Image via Art Acevedo/Twitter." expand=1]Image via Art Acevedo/Twitter.

What would you do if you had five years to live? One year? A month?

That's the question Houston-based Isha Desselle asked herself in 1986 after returning from a trip to India, where she saw too many homeless people to count.

One of them spent her nights rolled up "in a little bag," and Desselle said she looked like her mother. The thought brought her to tears.

[rebelmouse-image 19476276 dam="1" original_size="750x396" caption="GIF via Muse Storytelling." expand=1]GIF via Muse Storytelling.

"My mother was tough, in a very soft way," Desselle recalls. "She built our house in Trinidad, mixing water, sand, and stone. She taught us everything, especially charity. She's the one who instilled that in our life. On the weekends, we would go to the market, and she would feed the beggars."

When she returned home, she decided to take a hard look at herself and ask "What do I want to do with my life? What do I want to do with me?"

It's a question many of us have asked: You may be thinking it right now as you sit and read this. What do you want to do with your life?

Desselle knew she wanted to help others. The choice she made was extraordinary. After grappling with how she could do the most good, she sold her house and all of her belongings, giving her enough money for a fresh start. But it wasn't for her.

"I sold my home and everything I had," Desselle says, "put a down payment on a rundown apartment complex. It was like this is it. It just felt right."

[rebelmouse-image 19476278 dam="1" original_size="706x373" caption="GIF via Muse Storytelling." expand=1]GIF via Muse Storytelling.

Her goal? To turn the complex into a safe place for elderly people without a home. But though her intentions were good, Desselle says she was stymied at every turn. "I went to United Way," she remembers, "and they told me I wouldn't make it because I didn't have the experience; I didn't have the education."

The rejection didn't make Desselle weaker. It fueled her resolve. No one was going to tell her what she could or couldn't do.

So she moved into the apartment complex herself and began to help those who were already living there. When they didn't have food, Desselle walked to butcher shops and asked for bones. She went to produce markets and asked for vegetables. "We had that every day," she says.

And then the people came. Soon the elderly homeless residents of Desselle's neighborhood started coming for assistance. Sometimes she'd have up to 40 people in her tiny kitchen. "And everyone helped out," she says. Desselle began feeding more than 200 homeless people a day.

America has a homelessness crisis.

According to data collected in 2017, more than 500,000 people are homeless on any given day in the United States. That number includes 58,000 families with kids. As the cost of living gets higher and higher, more and more people can't afford a place to live. Many are spending nights on the street or in transitional housing.

In Houston, specifically, more than 4,000 people are either spending nights on the street or living in temporary shelters while they work to get back on their feet. The good news is that this number is only half of what it was in 2011. And the answer is often more affordable housing.

[rebelmouse-image 19476279 dam="1" original_size="750x400" caption="GIF via Muse Storytelling." expand=1]GIF via Muse Storytelling.

That's why Houston's commitment to help people get off the street is so important — and why people like Desselle are so instrumental in the fight to end homelessness. They persevere even in the face of adversity, inspiring all of us to work harder to make a difference.

Desselle's motto is where there's a will, there's a way.

That's what Desselle's mother used to say. She's taken it to heart. "I picked that up because I watched her in action."

Her goal? To change the lives of the elderly people forced to live on the street. Since Desselle first started the Turning Point Center, she's helped more than 37,000 of Houston's homeless population.

"They come in with a frown, the destitution in their face," Desselle says. "And you take them to the clothing room, let them have a shower, change into something new. Their whole outlook changes."

The biggest thing that the center can offer? Hope and respect for the human spirit. The residents who stay on for lengthy periods of time help out others who live there too.

"We see the person inside," she says. "They're not a number. There's someone in there. There's hopes; there's dreams. You give them a chance. You change the outlook of them, and the inside changes too."

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Desselle's mission should inspire anyone thinking about what to do next. Because our goal should be to bring out the good in this world.

"I don't think money, power, or position could ever buy what I receive in helping people," Desselle says. "I made a home where elderly homeless people can go, and I have lived my dream. I'll probably die with a smile on my face."

You can help, too.

If there's one thing we can learn from this story, it's that all of us have the power to make a difference. No, we're not all going to sell our belongings and devote our lives to helping others (and that's OK!), but we must all make a commitment to help our fellow humans and make the world a kinder, warmer place.

Want to help? You can start by volunteering at a shelter, where help is always needed. You could create care kits — packages full of essentials like socks and toiletries — to hand out, especially during the cold season. You can write to your legislators and urge them to support measures that protect the homeless and push for affordable housing. Start small, and you too could be making a world of difference.

"Anyone got a minute to talk about gerrymandering?" Laura Moser, a candidate running for the 7th Congressional District seat in Texas, asked her Twitter followers on Dec. 3, 2017.

Candidate Laura Moser. Photo courtesy of Laura Moser for Congress.

Gerrymandering may sound like a silly term coined in an episode of "Seinfeld," but as Moser explained, it's anything but.

In a fiery tweet thread following her initial question, Moser spelled out why gerrymandering is, to be frank, the absolute worst.

Moser's district in Houston — like many across the U.S. — has been heavily gerrymandered. That's why its voting boundaries look like this:

To be sure, as Moser pointed out, there are even more bizarrely shaped districts across the country. Take this one in Chicago, for example.

Then there's the entire state of North Carolina, which gerrymandering's turned into the weirdest blue-and-red jigsaw puzzle imaginable.

But Moser's own 7th District in Texas is still pretty bad.

Not every odd-looking boundary is suspicious, of course. Naturally formed borders like rivers may alter district boundaries a bit, Moser explained.

But when specific blocks within neighborhoods have been redrawn to conveniently slip into different districts? It makes you wonder, she tweeted, "Why ... is one block of Linkwood Drive excluded from the district?"

"Or here, in my neighborhood of West University: why are half of Pemberton and Fenwood in a different district?" she asked.

Like, honestly, Houstonians, what is happening with Jersey Village? As Moser pointed out, things there are getting "pretty baroque."

Nope, a drunk guy didn't map out the 7th District in Houston (or any of these other districts).

"If it seems like whoever drew these lines must have been drunk, think again: this is part of a very calculated campaign," Moser tweeted.

And race (read: racism) has a lot to do with it.

Gerrymandering has the potential to significantly dampen the political power of neighborhoods of color (or those that are poor or younger).

This is how it works:

Basically, gerrymandering is the manipulation of voting district boundaries by politicians to give their party an advantage on Election Day. In other words, politicians can quietly redraw district lines to consolidate or split up certain voting blocs — based on race, religion, socioeconomic status, education level, etc. — to favor their own candidacy or party.

Both parties are guilty of applying this trickery. But the GOP has held majorities across most state legislatures where district boundaries are decided since 2010, and they've abused this ethically challenged privilege far more than their Democrat counterparts.

Take Wisconsin, for example. After Republicans in control there redrew district lines in 2011 — packing left-leaning voters into certain areas when it was politically advantageous, then spreading them out when it wasn't — a court ruled the actions were an attempt to cement an electoral infrastructure favorable to the GOP.

The proof's in the pudding, after all: In the Wisconsin election held after the new district lines went into effect, Republicans won just 48.6% of votes for the state assembly, yet still earned a 60-to-39 seat majority.

The Supreme Court heard arguments for the case in October 2017. The court's decision will likely affect gerrymandering laws for decades to come.

In Houston, Moser argues, "minority" voters are being corralled into districts to give Republicans a larger advantage.

"But WE ARE THE MAJORITY. In Texas and in the nation," she wrote. "The majority of decent Americans who believes in fairness, in treating people with respect."

Her Twitter thread struck a chord with many voters concerned about how gerrymandering will affect votes in Houston — and the rest of the country. As of this writing, the thread has been retweeted nearly 17,000 times.

Moser credits the tweet's virality to people waking up to an increasingly rigged system.

"I hope we can start fighting for the most basic of principles, one that everyone, regardless of party or region, race or income, can agree on: every American should have an equal vote," she says. "If we want citizens to get involved in our democracy, we better make sure it really is a democracy."

President Trump won't address climate change, so Beyoncé will

Beyoncé's been giving back to her hometown of Houston as it digs out from under the disaster that was Hurricane Harvey.

After Harvey left Houston a flooded mess, the singer teamed up with some local organizations to help bring attention to the disaster relief efforts and making a few on-the-ground appearances herself. Disaster relief is nothing new for Beyoncé — in 2005, she set up the Survivor Foundation to help victims of Hurricane Katrina — so it didn't come as a huge surprise that she took such a hands-on approach when Houston needed her.

It was during the Hand in Hand charity telethon, however, that Beyoncé addressed an underlying issue that many in our own government aren't willing to tackle: climate change.

More than $44 million for disaster relief was raised during the Hand in Hand telethon, but it was Beyoncé's powerful statement that made headlines the morning after.

Stating the obvious — that natural disasters don't care about the color your skin is, the religion you practice, or how much money you've got in your checking account — Beyoncé segued into a message about the long-term effects of climate change. Citing a number of recent disasters, which, mind you, aren't in themselves proof of climate change but are what we can look forward to if we don't take swift action, she called on viewers to "come together in a collective effort to raise our voices, to help our communities, to lift our spirits, and heal" before it's too late.

GIFs from Beyoncé/YouTube.

Make no mistake about it: Climate change has been and will continue to disparately harm poor communities and people of color.

Anyone can be hit by a natural disaster, but poorer countries and poorer parts of the U.S. are less equipped to be able to effectively prepare for or recover from tragedy. Many people can't afford to just pack up their belongings and move out of harm's way or rebuild homes destroyed by storm winds and debris. Fights against racism, climate change, and income inequality are inextricably linked; it's why a number of groups have taken an intersectional approach on so many of these topics.

Climate change is very real. In December, more than 800 climate scientists signed a letter urging then-President-elect Trump to address the climate crisis just waiting to happen. Since then, Trump has appointed a climate denier to head the Environmental Protection agency, pulled out of the Paris climate agreement, and rolled back dozens of common sense regulations meant to protect our fragile planet.

If scientists can't get through to deniers, maybe Beyoncé can. We're entering an all-hands-on-deck kind of era when it comes to fighting climate change, so let's get in formation.

Watch Beyoncé's powerful message from the Hand in Hand benefit below.

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This is about so much more than a single storm. It's about humanity.

When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, people around the country joined forces to help the relief efforts, with the city of Houston taking on a big role.

The Texas city, just a few hundred miles down Interstate 10, stepped up and provided support for New Orleans evacuees. Houston's Astrodome was repurposed into a shelter, area school districts adapted to meet new demand, and both local celebrities and everyday citizens donated time, money, and housing for those in need.

It was a perfect example of one city coming to another's aid in a challenging time.

Hurricane Katrina evacuees set up in Houston's Astrodome stadium in September 2005. Photo by Menahem Khana/AFP/Getty Images.

12 years later, as Houston reels from the effects of Hurricane Harvey, New Orleans wants the city to know that it hasn't forgotten the powerful display of love and generosity.

The City of New Orleans took out a full page ad in the Sept. 10 edition of the Houston Chronicle, a screenshot of which was posted to Twitter by Chronicle editor Matt Schwartz.

Addressed "To our friends in Texas," the letter provides a powerful, heartfelt message of support and encouragement as Houston prepares for its own post-hurricane recovery efforts after Harvey tore through the city.

The letter reads:

The letter serves as a reminder of one of life's most universal truths: We all need help from time to time.

Katrina, Harvey, and Irma can bury our cities under water and wash away our property, but they cannot take away our humanity. These tragedies are mitigated by our ability to dig deep down within ourselves and let the empathy within us shine through. Just as New Orleans needed Houston, Houston now needs New Orleans — one day, you can be a thriving city and the next, you can be wrecked through no fault of your own.

Empathy and generosity are key to survival and success. If you're in a position where you can help someone out, hopefully you'll do that. If you're in a position where you're the one in need of help, hopefully you'll find the courage to ask for it.

Together, we will weather life's storms as best as humanly possible.

A woman is rescued from her flooded home after Hurricane Katrina. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images.

11 stories of hope and resilience in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

Natural disasters bring out the worst of Mother Nature but the best of humanity.

Hurricane Harvey is no exception.

The massive storm made landfall in Texas on Aug. 25, inundating the Houston metro area with record-breaking floodwaters and high winds. To avoid chaos on the highways, there was no mass evacuation order for the city's 2.3 million residents. But most homes and buildings were no match for the unprecedented storm.

Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images.

Local first responders and the Coast Guard are working around the clock to rescue people from roofs and attics as the waters rise. But their numbers and resources, particularly those of the aquatic variety, are limited.

Thankfully, there are ordinary heroes among us too.

These are the people who aren't afraid to step up and lend a hand, even in the face of danger or uncertainty. Here are 11 of their stories.

1. Abe Minor planned to rescue his friends. Soon, he was rescuing dozens more.

Once his friends were safe, Minor kept going, rescuing as many as 20 different people and their pets. And he's going back out today.

2. Cole Geeo put his monster truck to good use and went out to help.

Geeo saw the coverage on the news and knew he (and his 8-foot-tall truck) could be of assistance. Using a few ladders, Geeo was able to help his neighbor Deborah Wright get down from her second floor and into his truck.

"That's a redneck rescue, I do believe," Wright's coworker Dina Young Gray told local ABC affiliate WFAA.

3. Even 15-year-old Declan took to the water to help his neighbors in the Meyerland area of Houston.

Way to go, Declan!

4. These men waded into waist-deep water to help a stranger clinging tight to a road sign.

They used a refrigerator as a float to get to the man, then created a human chain to get through the rushing water.

5. This preacher went door-to-door to make sure nobody was stranded in these submerged cars.

When it was time to step up, he put his values into action.

6. Animals are in dire need, too. That's why Alicia Plunkett did her part to keep Houston's bats from drowning.

It may sound small, but in the wake of the storm and standing water, the region will be be inundated with mosquitos and the diseases they carry. Bats can assist with that problem, but only if they're alive to help.

7. Storm tracker Aaron Jayjack found a lost dog. And his story has a yappy, er, happy ending.

Jayjack stopped for gas, and the sweet pup jumped into his car. Jayjack used social media to help find the dog's owner, and the pair was reunited.

8. Local and national journalists continue to prove their mettle during this storm. A local news team helped first responders save the life of a stranded trucker.

The powerful moment of everyday heroics was captured by the crew.

9. And CNN correspondent Ed Lavandera joined local college student Austin Seth on his civilian search-and-rescue mission.

Lavandera continued to report the story while rescuing families and helping them into Seth's flatboat.

10. As a thank you to the reporters covering the storm and its aftermath, this woman delivered a six-pack on air.

It may not be strictly heroic, but in a weekend full of hardship, uncertainty, and tragedy, a little levity can go a long way.

11. Once people are rescued, they need a place to go. This screenwriter stepped up to run a shelter.

When the community of Rockport opened a shelter at an elementary school but didn't leave anyone in charge, screenwriter Zachary Dearing stepped up to the challenge. With no emergency response training, he took stock of the situation and recruited volunteers to help people get resources and organize visitors. Bravo!

Whether you're driving a flatboat around Houston picking up strangers or sending money from Seattle, there are plenty of ways to help communities devastated by this storm.

You don't need a cape or even a uniform to be a hero, just a willingness to lend a hand. Here are a few places to start.

Because near or far, when natural disasters happen, we're in this together. Thanks to everyone doing their part.

Photo by Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images.

Want to help but don't know where to start?

As large swaths of Texas reel from Hurricane Harvey, people around the country are looking for ways to help with what will undoubtedly be a long and expensive recovery process.

If you're someone who wants to help but don't know what organization to support beyond the Red Cross, we've compiled a list of other organizations that will also need support in the coming weeks and months.

More than anything, many of these groups need financial help, but some are also accepting supplies from local donors.

A Rockport, Texas, firefighter goes door-to-door looking for people in need of help after Hurricane Harvey. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

Here are 26 organizations that need support in the wake of Hurricane Harvey:

1. Global Giving is trying to raise $2 million for Hurricane Harvey relief.

In addition to providing emergency supplies such as food, water, and medicine, it will also help support the rebuilding and recovery period to follow.

2. Convoy of Hope made the trip down to Texas with truckloads of food and medical supplies in tow.

3. Americares is working to get medical supplies to evacuees and first responders.

4. Direct Relief has made its medical inventory available to help in the wake of Harvey.

The group is sending Hurricane Preparedness Packs to people on the ground in Texas and has committed $200,000 to local response efforts.

5. The South Texas Blood and Tissue Center is taking online financial donations as well as in-person blood donations.

6. Heart to Heart International is on the ground delivering medical supplies to evacuees and responders.

7. The Homeless Period Project of Austin is delivering tampons, pads, and other period-related products to people displaced by the storm.

8. Nearby Airbnb hosts can help out by listing their places for free.

The company is waiving all administrative costs while still providing the Host Guarantee insurance coverage.

9. The George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston has opened its doors to those in need of shelter.

They're in need of supplies such as baby formula, diapers, hand sanitizer, nonperishable food, sweatsuits, socks, towels, bottles of water, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, blankets, and pillows. More information can be found on the George R. Brown website.

10. The Texas Diaper Bank is providing baby supplies to families in need.

11. Local Humane Society locations are doing what they can to help lost or abandoned pets.

12. Austin Pets Alive has taken in more than 200 animals since the storm hit.

The group's website lists a number of ways to help out financially, by volunteering, or by fostering pets.

13. The SPCA of Texas is taking in pets from animal shelters that have been hit by the storm.

14. Portlight is assisting people with disabilities during the storm and its aftermath.

15. Local food banks will be essential in the coming weeks.

Houston Press put together a list of food banks serving areas affected by the storm. Contact those locations individually or visit the Feeding Texas website for more information on how to help.

16. Covenant House is providing shelter to homeless youth, currently caring for 79 children in Houston.

17. Save the Children set up a Harvey Children's Relief Fund to get aid to kids and families in need.

18. Team Rubicon is deploying veterans and first responders to areas affected by the storm.

19. Immigrant and refugee nonprofit RAICES is providing support for undocumented immigrants who were abandoned by ICE before the storm hit.

20. Similarly, Catholic Charities is providing support to undocumented immigrants in the storm's path.

21. The Transgender Foundation of America launched a relief fund to help Houston-area trans and intersex individuals during and after the storm.

Trans individuals have a history of being turned away from shelters during disasters, making the relief fund necessary for survival.

22. Lions Clubs International issued a $100,000 grant to its local chapters to buy blankets, food, and other supplies.

23. The United Way of Greater Houston allows people to target their donation by county (or just send it wherever it's needed most).

To help those affected by the storm outside the Houston area, the United Way also has a list of additional recovery funds.

24. The United Methodist Committee on Relief is providing shelter and support along evacuation routes.

25. The Houston chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America is trying to raise $50,000 for food, water, and tarps.

26. GoFundMe created a hub of its Harvey-specific campaigns for easy access.

A wide range of causes are covered on that page, from individuals trying to raise money for home repairs to getting hot meals to evacuees.

Note: As is always the case with charities, it's a good idea to do a quick search on Charity Navigator before making a donation to any organization.