As the one-year mark approaches for the devastating floods in Kerr County, the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country is emphasizing long-term mental health support for survivors and first responders. The foundation is warning that anniversaries and community events can potentially trigger renewed trauma. The foundation has awarded $5 million in grants to 15 […]
Grady Chirogianis
New Fund Aims to Save Small Businesses Before Disaster Aid Arrives
As the frequency and cost of natural disasters in the United States continue to climb, a national nonprofit is launching a new initiative to combat one of the most persistent failures in community recovery: the inability to get money to small businesses fast enough for them to survive. LiftFund, a San Antonio-based community funder, has […]
Fort Worth grief center awarded funds to support families affected by Central Texas floods
The priority in the months following the floods last summer that devastated the Hill Country was to rebuild broken communities. Austin Dickson, Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country CEO, said the nonprofit began immediately supporting local communities with groceries, gas and cleaning. Funding was also directed to homes, a senior center, small businesses and […]
‘Hope for the Guadalupe’ premieres locally
A new documentary about the aftermath of last summer’s devastating floods and the effort to restore the Guadalupe River premiered Thursday, May 14, at Arcadia Live Theatre, drawing an audience of landowners, conservationists, elected officials and community members from across the Hill Country. “Hope for the Guadalupe,” directed by Ben Masters and produced by Josh […]
Welcome home blessings for Danny and Valerie Mares
Today, we gathered to celebrate a new beginning for Danny and Valerie Mares as they stepped into their new home after the devastation of the July 4 flood. Joining the welcome home blessing were Tara LaMontia with HPS, case manager Margaret White (Community Foundation/HPS), and representatives from TSAHC. Valerie shared how their story began around […]
Welcome Home Blessings for the Martinez Family and the Kitchens Family
On a spring evening marked by gratitude and celebration, two neighboring families returned home side by side. The homes of the Martinez family and their daughter Maria Kitchens’ family sit next to one another, and their shared Welcome Home gathering reflected not only the closeness of their houses, but the closeness of their lives. What […]
Welcome Home Blessings for Annette and Gary Dickson
On a hopeful spring day in Rio Robles, friends, neighbors, and partners gathered to celebrate a true “Welcome Home” for Annette and Gary Dickson at their restored home on Chaparral Drive. Before the celebration began, there was time to tour the beautifully repaired house and hear the couple reflect on both the frightening morning of July 4 and […]
Welcome home blessings for Kevin Kearney
On the morning of July 4, 2025, Kevin Kearney woke in the dark to a sound no one wants to hear—the force of floodwater crashing against his home in the Hunt-Ingram area. When he opened the front door around 3:15 a.m., water was already at the threshold of his elevated modular home. Within moments, the […]
Welcome Home Blessings for Michelle McGuire
Michelle McGuire’s new home sits high on a hill, with a beautiful view and the kind of peace that once must have felt impossible. In the early morning hours of July 4, in Hunt, Texas, Michelle woke around 3:15 a.m. to the sound of water. At first, she thought she was dreaming. But when she got […]
LiftFund helps Kerr County businesses recover after flood
KERR COUNTY, Texas — At one point, more than a dozen RVs sat on a lot along the Guadalupe River. Nine months after the flood, the Kerr County resort is still vacant. Centuries-old trees once covered this Hill Country RV park. “Where you see that stump, that was a 400-year-old Cyprus tree that went down the […]