Cuyahoga County Sheriff deputies sit outside Ariel Castro's home in Cleveland May 10, 2013. 
 
 CLEVELAND More than $800,000 in donations has poured in from around the world to help the three women found a month ago, held captive for a decade in a Cleveland house, officials said on Thursday. 
 
 The case has resulted as well in raising awareness of the plight of missing persons, said Cleveland City Councilwoman Dona Brady. 
 
 "It takes a tragedy sometimes to make things happen," she said. "The police are taking missing persons much more seriously." 
 
 Cleveland police came under fire for not finding Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight and Amanda Berry sooner. 
 
 On May 6, Berry, 27, was freed along with her 6-year-old daughter by neighbors from a house owned by Ariel Castro. 
 
 Berry had last been seen in 2003, and police say her child was fathered by Castro. 
 
 Cleveland police responded to Berry's 911 call and found DeJesus, 23, and Knight, 32, also in the house. Knight had disappeared in 2002 and DeJesus in 2004. 
 
 Castro, 52, is in jail on an $8 million bond and faces multiple charges of kidnapping and rape. 
 
 Brady and fellow council members Brian Cummins and Matt Zone set up the Cleveland Courage Fund, a tax-free trust for donations for the four victims. 
 
 So far, $825,000 has been collected from around the country and from various foreign countries. 
 
 The victims have started using money from the fund, said Chris Kelly, a co-trustee of the fund. 
 
 Concern also has prompted offers from doctors, dentists and people volunteering the use of vacation homes and cars, he said. 
 
 "The community is acting in a way you would hope they would act," Kelly said. 
 
 Kelly said the trust will be split equally four ways, as agreed upon by the three women. 
 
 The fund is designed to help them in all aspects of their lives, he said. 
 
 "Ten years out of society means not finishing school, no job training and not learning how to drive," he said. 
 
 There also is an attempt to get money for the victims from the state. 
 
 This week, State Rep. John Barnes Jr. of Cleveland introduced a bill that would award $25,000 a year, free medical care and state university tuition to any survivor of abduction held for eight years or more. 
 
 Cleveland police recently deployed a command bus to the city's crime-troubled east and west sides, with officers and FBI agents sent in to follow up tips and answer questions, according to spokeswoman Jennifer Ciaccia. 
 
 The house where the women were held is boarded up and surrounded by a 10-foot-high chain link fence. 
 
 Cummins, who represents the neighborhood, said residents have discussed having the house torn down and planting four oak trees for the child and three women who escaped. 
 
 (Reporting by Kim Palmer; Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Ellen Wulfhorst; Editing by Bernard Orr) ||||| The three Cleveland women rescued from the kidnappings that kept them in captivity for over a decade say they are "happy and safe" as they continue to recover from the harrowing ordeal. 
 
 The attorneys for Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight released a letter on behalf of their clients thanking the public for their encouragement, as well as for respecting their requests for privacy. 
 
 "The outpouring of public support has been nothing short of remarkable," the letter stated. 
 
 "To have complete strangers offer loving support in the form of money, goods and services, reaching out to help like a family member, is appreciated in ways that are impossible to put into words. Amanda, Gina and Michelle, who have asked for nothing, are frankly overwhelmed by it all." 
 
 RELATED: How to Help the Women Rescued in Cleveland Kidnapping 
 
 The women escaped from Ariel Castro's home on May 6. 
 
 A charity established to help the women in the aftermath of the kidnappings has raised more than $650,000. Donations will directly benefit Berry, her daughter, DeJesus, and Knight. 
 
 The letter in full: 
 
 Amanda, Gina & Michelle Offer Thanks to Community 
 
 We are the attorneys who have come together to help Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight. 
 
 These three brave women have asked us to give this message to everyone who has expressed concern and support. 
 
 Amanda, Gina and Michelle want you to know they are doing well. They are happy and safe and continue to heal, a process that requires time and privacy. 
 
 Since we first spoke publicly on their behalf, it has been wonderful to see that their plea for privacy has been answered and respected. The media has disappeared from their front lawns and their neighborhoods are no longer experiencing traffic jams from news vehicles and curious onlookers. You have no idea how much this means to them and has helped in their recovery process. 
 
 Their first public message included a simple, heartfelt thanks to well-wishers and supporters for "everything you are doing." That "everything" now includes perhaps the greatest gift of all – the space and time to reconnect with their families and recover and rebuild their lives. And so they say again, "Thank you. Thank you so much!" 
 
 We continue to receive numerous generous offers to support Amanda, Gina and Michelle and their families. 
 
 The outpouring of public support has been nothing short of remarkable. 
 
 To have complete strangers offer loving support in the form of money, goods and services, reaching out to help like a family member, is appreciated in ways that are impossible to put into words. Amanda, Gina and Michelle, who have asked for nothing, are frankly overwhelmed by it all. 
 
 You have touched their hearts in ways they will never forget. So again, they collectively say "Thank you. Thank you so much!" 
 
 We understand some people may be confused about the best way to help. We are in direct, private and ongoing conversations with Amanda, Gina and Michelle about many matters, including your generosity. 
 
 While they appreciate the generous offers of goods and services, for now, they are trying to assess what they need today and for years to come. That's why donations to the Cleveland Courage Funds are so welcome. 
 
 We are confident the Cleveland Courage Funds are the legitimate, appropriate and most effective vehicles for this effort. In fact, donations to the Cleveland Courage Funds are already being distributed to the four survivors consistent with the concepts behind the trusts that are being set up. And as soon as the trusts are in place, one-hundred percent of all donations to the Cleveland Courage Funds will go into those trusts. 
 
 Cleveland is known for its generosity. Amanda, Gina, Michelle and Amanda's daughter are indeed grateful for that generosity, as are we. 
 
 Kathy Joseph, Heather Kimmel, Henry Hilow, and James Wooley are attorneys representing the survivors on a pro bono basis. ||||| CLOSE Gina DeJesus gave the crowds surrounding her house a thumbs up when she returned home after more than a decade in captivity. VPC 
 
 Cleveland homeowner Ariel Castro charged with kidnapping and rape, but two brothers not charged. 
 
 A sign hangs on the porch of the home of Amanda Berry's sister on Wednesday. (Photo: Tony Dejak, AP) Story Highlights Cleveland homeowner Ariel Castro charged with kidnapping and rape 
 
 Two brothers were not charged 
 
 Survivors Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus reunited with their families 
 
 Third victim, Michelle Knight, remains hospitalized 
 
 Ariel Castro, the man who owned the Cleveland home where three women escaped this week after nearly a decade of captivity, was charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape. 
 
 The kidnapping charges include the 6-year-old daughter of Amanda Berry, who was conceived and born in the house on the city's west side. DNA tests are being conducted to determine the child's father. 
 
 Castro will be arraigned Thursday morning. 
 
 His two brothers, Pedro and Onil, will not be charged. Cleveland prosecutor Victor Perez said there was no evidence they were involved in the crime or had any knowledge of it. 
 
 No other victims are expected from the case. 
 
 Other revelations: 
 
 • Berry and Gina DeJesus were welcomed back to their family homes. The third victim, Michelle Knight, remained hospitalized Wednesday. 
 
 • Berry was reunited with relatives at her sister's home in Cleveland. Her sister, Beth Serrano, made a brief statement thanking the public for their support and requesting privacy so that Berry can "heal" and "recover." 
 
 • DeJesus hid her face with a hoodie and gave a thumbs-up sign as she arrived home. 
 
 • DeJesus reportedly told investigators she was abducted when she accepted a ride home from school, according to NBC News. 
 
 • DeJesus is in "good sprits," according to a CNN interview with a family member. 
 
 • DeJesus was a friend of Ariel Castro's daughter as a young teen, WKYC-TV reports. 
 
 • Ariel Castro helped search for DeJesus when she went missing, and Castro was friends with the girl's father, Khalid Samad, a friend of the DeJesus family, told the Associated Press. Samad also said Castro helped pass out missing-persons fliers. 
 
 • AP reported that Castro also comforted DeJesus' mother at a candlelight vigil for her missing daughter. 
 
 • Victims' family members told CNN that survivor Michelle Knight, the longest held captive, was "malnourished and weak." 
 
 • Metro Health Hospital spokeswoman Tina Shaerban-Arundel confirmed Knight was still hospitalized Wedneday, in good condition. 
 
 • Cleveland Safety Director Martin Flask said no human remains had been found at the site where Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight escaped. Authorities had been drawn to disturbed soil in the yard — and previously told WKYC-TV that the three women were forced to have sex with their captors, that the pregnant women were beaten and that the babies didn't survive. 
 
 • One victim reportedly suffered up to three miscarriages because she was so malnourished, according to Cleveland's WEWS-TV. 
 
 • One of the brothers is believed to have fathered the 6-year-old girl found at the home with Berry, now 27, according to Deputy Police Chief Ed Tomba. DNA tests are being conducted to verify paternity. 
 
 
 
 • Berry give birth in an inflatable swimming pool inside the house, police told The Plain Dealer. The girl's name is Jocelyn. 
 
 STORY: Disturbing tale of Cleveland captivity 
 
 • WKYC-TV reports Berry's family is "excited" to meet their grandchild and is eager to "embrace Berry's daughter as their own." 
 
 • Police sources said the 6-year-old-girl was occasionally taken out of the house and would visit suspect Ariel Castro's mother, Lillian Rodriguez, whom she called "grandmother." 
 
 • The women were restrained by ropes and chains and occasionally had been allowed into the backyard, Police Chief Michael McGrath said. 
 
 • WKYC-TV spoke with Ariel Castro's son, who said his father was "secretive" and that there were padlocks on doors to the attic, basement and garage in his father's home. Castro's son said he was not close to his father. 
 
 • Investigators are talking with relatives of at least one other missing woman from the neighborhood, AP reported. Ashley Summers, a 14-year-old girl, disappeared in 2007 near the house where Castro lives. 
 
 • McGrath told NBC's Today show that the physical condition of the three women was "very good considering the circumstances" and the women were allowed in the backyard of the suspect's home "once in a while." 
 
 • McGrath said police did everything they could to find the women since they went missing, denying claims by neighbors that officers had been called to the house for suspicious circumstances from time to time in the past 10 years. 
 
 • Cleveland neighbor Israel Lugo said that other neighbors had seen women crawling on all fours behind Castro's house, and that the men were controlling the women, according to the U.K.'s Daily Mail Online. 
 
 • Suspect Ariel Castro speaks both English and Spanish. Brothers Pedro and Onil Castro speak only Spanish, according to WKYC-TV. 
 
 • FBI Special Agent Vicki Anderson told ABC-TV that the three woman "had a bond, that they had been through this together." 
 
 Contributing: Michael Winter 
 
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– A month after three women and a young girl were found captive in a Cleveland home, Reuters checks in on the victims' situation, or at least their financial state. The Cleveland Courage Fund, a tax-free trust set up in their name, has been flooded with donations and now totals $825,000. The victims have begun dipping into the money, which will be split evenly among Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Berry's six-year-old daughter. "The outpouring of public support has been nothing short of remarkable," the victims previously said in a letter via ABC News. "The community is acting in a way you would hope they would act," the fund's co-trustee told Reuters, adding the money will help the women with whatever they need. "Ten years out of society means not finishing school, no job training, and not learning how to drive." It's not only money that's being offered up. Doctors and dentists have volunteered their services, while others have donated the use of vacation homes and cars. Meanwhile, Reuters reports neighborhood residents have talked about tearing down Ariel Castro's now boarded-up house and planting four oak trees in its place.