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Round One Investments
$3.15 Million Invested in Grants to Nonprofits Serving Impacted Households
Data-informed grants from the Hurricane Beryl Recovery Fund to help households most impacted by recent storm
July 31, 2024 –The Greater Houston Disaster Alliance is investing $3.15 million in grants from its Hurricane Beryl Recovery Fund to help area neighbors who are struggling to recover from the July 8 storm. This first round of grants will support low-to-moderate income households with flexible emergency financial assistance to help defray the costs of crucial disaster recovery related expenses; provide navigation support for people accessing additional recovery services, such as FEMA and Small Business Administration (SBA) assistance; and provide targeted home repair assistance for the most severely impacted who face financial challenges covering repair costs.
August 7, 2024 – Households in need of home repair services due to Hurricane Beryl can now access resources from the Greater Houston Disaster Alliance’s Hurricane Beryl Recovery Fund. As part of the Disaster Alliance’s first round of grants that was announced last week, $1.9 million was invested in eight nonprofit partners to provide targeted home repair assistance for the most severely impacted who face financial challenges covering home repair costs.
Help Seekers: Flexible Emergency Assistance
Impacted households that meet the criteria for assistance are eligible for flexible emergency financial assistance up to $1,500, which will be distributed through direct payments to cover disaster relief and recovery expenses including but not limited to temporary housing, relocation, minor home repair managed by the household, food/furniture replacement or lost wages.
How to Get Help
- Starting July 31, individuals affected by Hurricane Beryl can access available resources through nonprofit organizations that have received grants to provide assistance.
- Help seekers from Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery and Waller Counties should call the 211 Texas/United Way HELPLINE, a free, confidential helpline operating 24 hours a day. A helpline specialist will gather information on the caller’s specific situation and needs and provide direct contact information for local organizations that can best address those needs.
- When connected with a nonprofit partner, a basic assessment will be conducted to identify primary needs that determine the amount of flexible emergency financial assistance provided.
- Additionally, eligible households will be connected with a navigator to help guide them through available federal relief programs, such as FEMA and SBA, as well as other public and private programs for temporary housing, food, medical care and other support services.
Eligibility Criteria
- Households impacted by Hurricane Beryl on July 8, 2024 and its aftermath;
- Reside in the City of Houston, Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery or Waller counties;
- Are low-to-moderate income, defined as 80% or under Area Median Income (AMI);
- Reside in a zip code disproportionately impacted by the storm, or are very low-income, defined as 50% or under AMI;
- Are uninsured or under-insured homeowners or renters.
Help Seekers: Home Repair Assistance
How to Get Help
- Eligible households in need of home repair services should complete one application with Connective by visiting www.connectivehomerepair.org;
- The intake form is in four languages, English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Mandarin (Chinese simplified) and Chinese (traditional) and can be completed by a homeowner themselves or anyone supporting them, including friends, family, case managers or navigators;
- Connective’s client resource team will review the applications and work with the applicant to collect any additional documents before determining if they are eligible for nonprofit-managed home repairs;
- Once approved for assistance, Connective will match applicants with a home repair agency best suited to meet their needs based on geography, spoken language, and available resources.
- The nonprofit agency will then work with the household to complete the damage assessment and facilitate repairs in collaboration with the household using public (e.g. FEMA) and private resources.
- Due to limited resources, the most impacted and vulnerable households will be provided home repair services, and an application does not guarantee home repairs.
Eligibility Criteria
- Households impacted by Hurricane Beryl on July 8, 2024 and its aftermath; and
- Reside in the City of Houston, Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery or Waller counties; and
- Are low-to-moderate income, defined as 80% or under Area Median Income (AMI); and
- Reside in a zip code disproportionately impacted by the storm, or are very low-income, defined as 50% or under AMI; and
- Are uninsured or under-insured homeowners; and
- Must have applied for FEMA individual assistance (regardless of outcome), unless ineligible for public assistance.
Types of Home Repair Assistance
- Temporary tarping not done in immediate response necessary to seal the envelope during construction
- Muck + gut/removal of damaged interior building materials
- Structural repairs (framing) and required major demolition (equipment, labor, and dumpsters/removal)
- Roof repair/replacement
- Foundation repairs
- Window replacement
- Siding repairs/replacement
- Gutter installation
- Mold control activities (if not completed in response phase) if applicable with water intrusion
- Repair of hazardous known electrical conditions
- Mechanical repairs required for functional system OR interim temperature controls
- Plumbing repairs necessary to utilize essential fixtures (toilet, sinks, shower/tubs)
- Repairs to water and/or sewage lines if impacted
- Accessibility modifications (if applicable)
- Replacement of flooring, insulation, and sheetrock
- Costs for temporary storage (if applicable)
Round One Nonprofit Partners
Flexible Emergency Financial Assistance & Resources Navigation
- BakerRipley ($75,000)
- Boat People SOS – Houston ($50,000)
- Catholic Charities ($75,000)
- Chinese Community Center ($75,000)
- Community Assistance Center ($75,000)
- Easter Seals of Greater Houston ($50,000)
- Epiphany Community Health Outreach Services (ECHOS) ($100,000)
- Family Houston ($50,000)
- Alexander Jewish Family Service ($100,000)
- My Brother’s Keeper Outreach Center ($50,000)
- Sewa International ($50,000)
- Volunteers of America ($100,000)
- Wesley Community Center ($75,000)
Home Repair
- Covenant Community Capital ($200,000)
- Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation ($250,000)
- Houston Habitat for Humanity ($300,000)
- Montgomery County Habitat for Humanity ($200,000)
- Rebuilding Together Houston ($275,000)
- The Restoration Team ($250,000)
Flexible Emergency Financial Assistance & Home Repair
- Hope Disaster Recovery ($300,000)
- West Street Recovery ($300,000)
A system coordination grant was also provided to Connective to facilitate the distribution of resources from grant recipients to help seekers residing in Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, and Waller counties. Connective will provide a platform for grantees to offer low-barrier, flexible emergency financial assistance to both new and existing clients, as well as a web-based centralized application for those seeking home repair services that will be available next week.
Greater Houston Disaster Alliance invited nonprofits that provide emergency financial assistance, resource navigation, and home repair for populations in the hardest hit zip codes in our region to submit round 1 grant applications. Visit the For Nonprofits page for more information.
Data Sources
The Disaster Alliance compiled available data thanks to close working relationships with Texas Department of Emergency Management (TDEM), Offices of Emergency Management of impacted Counties, and Connective.
Data sources to inform the disproportionately impacted zip codes analysis included:
- Individual State of Texas Assessment Tool (iSTAT) – a survey tool developed by TDEM to collect reported damages and losses to residential, commercial, and/or agricultural property and manage disaster response efforts.
- Connective Needs Assessment – a survey to help assess the level of impact after a disaster and share household needs with local nonprofits and/or local government. Top reported needs included food/drinking water; tree/debris removal, tarp/supplies, home repair assistance; utilities assistance; rent/mortgage assistance; and mental health counseling.
- 211 Calls for Assistance – 211 Texas/United Way HELPLINE received disaster-related calls from July 8 – July 22 from Fort Bend, Harris, Montgomery, and Waller counties, with food and water assistance, financial assistance, cooling centers, and FEMA registration assistance the most frequent needs reported.
- ALICE Households – ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) households earn just above the Federal Poverty Level but less than what it costs to make ends meet. These measurements provide a broader picture of financial insecurity than traditional federal poverty guidelines and are key to understanding how many people in our community struggle to get by. The data come from United for ALICE, a research initiative by United Way of Greater Houston, and are reflective of household status by ZIP code in the region in 2022.
- Households Living at/below Poverty – The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) provides the percentage of households whose income falls at/below the poverty threshold.
- Social Vulnerability Index – SVI is a tool that uses U.S. census data to identify communities most vulnerable to external stresses on human health, including natural disasters, disease outbreaks, and other emergencies, by assessing various socioeconomic and demographic factors.
Priority Zip Codes
A comprehensive analysis of zip codes was conducted using the above sources, identifying 47 unique zip codes across the City of Houston and surrounding counties, including Fort Bend, Harris, Montgomery, and Waller. Among these, 19 zip codes have been designated as the most affected, as they consistently ranked at the top when evaluating three criteria: total need, proportional need, and total homes damaged.
