Second Round of Hurricane Harvey Grants Support Long-Term Recovery

We are excited to share some good news from the CDP Hurricane Harvey Recovery Fund. Thanks to the outpouring of support we received last year, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) raised more than $14 million to benefit those affected by Hurricane Harvey. Early this year, we distributed nearly $1.5 million in grants to support long-term recovery. During the second round of funding, our grant committee asked us to focus on the following issue areas: housing repair and rebuild, health care and mental health, immigrant legal services, and environmental impact.

After much research and a rigorous due diligence process, the CDP is proud to announce we are awarding nine grants totaling more than $4 million to the following outstanding organizations:

All Hands and Hearts received $527,000 for the Hurricane Harvey Repair Project: Coastal Bend to improve the ability of the most vulnerable families in the Coastal Bend region of Texas to recover from Hurricane Harvey. All Hands and Hearts will provide full housing recovery for approximately 90 people (36 homes) in San Patricio, Refugio and Aransas counties. This organization is one of very few that have been on the ground in this part of the state from the beginning, and they are working closely with other partners to make sure their clients return to a fully repaired home, not just a house.

Attack Poverty was awarded more than $1.17 million, to be distributed over two years, for the Disaster Recovery Capacity Building project. The funds will allow Attack Poverty to increase its capacity to support full recovery from Hurricane Harvey, and build individual and community resilience within the communities where they are currently working, Fort Bend and North Harris counties, and expand into Brazoria, Galveston and Liberty counties. They will also provide support and technical assistance to those working to provide recovery services in other counties. Attack Poverty has a full recovery model that has already proven to work well, and they come highly recommended by other organizations who have provided funding to support their work.

Coalition for Environment, Equity and Resilience (CEER) received $164,000 to engage a community education director to convene public-private meetings regarding recovery efforts and available resources, and to advance the eight-point plan adopted by CEER member organizations. Additionally, CEER will draft targeted white papers outlining community issues for presentation to elected officials or others in the recovery effort, and seek public input or comment on dollars directed toward communities. The 24 member organizations who are part of this important collaborative effort will advocate for those whose voices are most often not heard during recovery and mitigation following a disaster.

Enterprise Community Partners received $500,000 as a match to $1.5 million in funds provided by the Rebuild Texas Fund for their Housing and Economic Assistance to Rebuild Texas (HEART) program. The program will help families throughout Texas move into healthy, safe homes that are rebuilt to withstand future major flooding and/or hurricane events. Enterprise will work in partnership with the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation (TSAHC) to provide technical assistance and sub-grants to build the capacity of local housing rebuild/repair organizations working in Texas.

Good360 was awarded $250,000 for Good360 Hurricane Harvey Long-Term Recovery to accelerate Hurricane Harvey recovery by solving challenges around logistics and the distribution of needed goods. The grant funds will also satisfy unmet product needs of nonprofit organizations working in long-term disaster recovery in southeast Texas. Specifically, by providing distribution methods and warehousing, the grant will support getting products to where they are needed, and storing and organizing them in a way that is easily accessible to Good360’s nonprofit partners.

Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative (HILSC) received $427,202 for Making People Whole After Harvey – Immigration Legal Services through the Equal Justice Works Disaster Recovery Legal Corp. HILSC is focused on helping immigrants without legal status navigate complex social and legal services systems, both public and nonprofit. This funding will support recovery among the immigrant population and help build resiliency for this population in Texas by deploying four immigration lawyers or “fellows” to Catholic Charities’ Cabrini Center for Legal Assistance, Human Rights First, YMCA- International Services and the Tahirih Justice Centers, all member organizations of HILSC.

NECHAMA – Jewish Response to Disaster received $150,000 for their Wharton County Rebuild Project. Funds will help provide basic repairs and rebuild to homes affected by Hurricane Harvey in Wharton County, as well as muck and gut and sanitation as still needed. NECHAMA will complete repairs on 36 homes, and will work closely with fellow CDP Hurricane Harvey Fund grantee, the Wharton County Recovery Team.

Texas Children’s Hospital was awarded $779,917, to be spent over two years, for the expansion of the Trauma and Grief Center at Texas Children’s Hospital’s Mobile Unit program. The funding will increase access to best-practice care among traumatized and bereaved children affected by Hurricane Harvey. The Trauma and Grief Center will expand its mobile clinic program to include two units that will provide trauma-informed assessments and care to youth located in the most underserved areas of greater Houston. These units will go to neighborhoods and schools to provide care for children and family members most at risk for PTSD, grief, bereavement, depression and other stressors related to the effects of Hurricane Harvey, particularly those most vulnerable in the population – lower income, immigrants, minorities, etc. Care providers through the mobile units will meet the children where they are, in their communities and in their schools. Referrals for more intensive care can be made to other programs through collaboration with other providers in the Houston Medical Center.

The Texas Tribune received $50,000 for “Public Service Journalism Covering Hurricane Harvey.” The grant will help the Tribune continue to provide coverage on Hurricane Harvey that is not already being provided by other news outlets – going deeper on policy and infrastructure issues, tracking response in Washington, and watching the long-term effects on the economy and the demographics of the region. As the national spotlight has moved away, the Tribune has remained on the story, devoting extra resources to this disaster and how it continues to affect people and policy alike. The Tribune follows recovery funding, housing issues, environmental disasters, links to health and mental health issues, and stories of individual challenges to recover and rebuild lives. The Tribune will also continue to produce free, on the record, public events and panels specifically related to Hurricane Harvey recovery. Their reporting and events have helped inform CDP’s funding direction.

You may have noticed that almost every single grant project is a collaboration of some sort – either we collaborated with other funders to better leverage our funds or the organization receiving funding is collaborating with other partners. Sometimes it’s both! We’re pleased with the partnerships we’re seeing and building here in Texas. And we’re excited to see how these funds are put to work to help support recovery from Hurricane Harvey.