Repairs Get Second Chance for Harvey Grants
Relief demands are worse a year later, due to the end of emergency assistance resources such as the hotel voucher program and emergency trailers, and while grants have resumed, more funds are needed.
HOUSTON—Nonprofits providing critical home repairs and other housing assistance to low-income Texas families affected by Hurricane Harvey now have a second chance to apply for grants to accelerate those projects. This opportunity, made possible by generous donations from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy and The Meadows Foundation, comes shortly after the awarding of 14 initial grants totaling $500,000 for recovery projects.
The Housing and Economic Assistance to Rebuild Texas/HEART program, a grant and technical assistance partnership between the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation/TSAHC and Enterprise Community Partners, began accepting grant applications from nonprofits in May. Due to an overwhelming number of preliminary proposals, HEART temporarily suspended submissions in June.
Initial funding for HEART came through a commitment from the Rebuild Texas Fund, a joint initiative of the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation and the OneStar Foundation. That support enabled the HEART Program to recently award $500,000 to 14 nonprofit organizations.
This first round of grants will finance the repair of 47 hurricane and flood-damaged homes, fund emergency rental and utility assistance for households struggling with lost income, and support case management and volunteer management staff to assist with ongoing recovery efforts.
The donations from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy and The Meadows Foundation have enabled HEART to reopen applications, which will lead to support for more organizations helping rebuild the lives and communities damaged by Harvey. The Rebuild Texas Fund will match these two new donations and the total funding available has now reached $1.5 million.
“The program has been reinstated, as in we allocated all of our initial funding but were able to give new life to the program because we raised additional funding. That’s why we are accepting grant proposals again,” Michael Wilt of the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation tells GlobeSt.com. “Everyone assisted through the program was impacted by Harvey–either displaced or living in substandard housing.”
GlobeSt.com learns that the program is focused specifically on the rural underserved Gulf Coast areas and more funds are needed. The demand has worsen a year later due to the end of emergency assistance resources such as the hotel voucher program and emergency trailers.
TSAHC will continue to concentrate its grants on organizations that help people repair homes from the foundations to the roofs. Enterprise’s focus will remain on supporting programming such as supportive housing services, financial counseling and long-term planning, including assistance with resilient and green building practices.
TSAHC is a statewide 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization created at the direction of the Texas legislature to serve as a self-sustaining statewide affordable housing provider. TSAHC provides innovative housing programs that help developers build affordable housing, help low and moderate-income households purchase a home, and help people facing financial hardship to remain in their homes.
Enterprise Community Partners is a nonprofit that makes well-designed homes affordable. In the last 35 years, Enterprise has created nearly 470,000 homes and invested $28.9 billion.
The Rebuild Texas Fund works alongside organizations within the impacted communities making an impact in the following six focus areas: community and economic development, health, housing, education and childcare, transportation and workforce, and capital for rebuilding small businesses. The fund will continue to finance projects and eligible nonprofit, government, corporate and philanthropic organizations that have been affected by Hurricane Harvey through the end of 2019.