Today we visited Patricia Moreno and her son, Thaddaeus, and presented them with a Bible and a pantry basket and gift card from HEB. Patricia and her two sons, Thaddeus and Jonah were living along the Guadalupe River on the morning of July 4 when they were jolted awake by someone pounding on their front […]
Grady Chirogianis
Welcome Home Blessing for Richard House
On Monday, March 16, the Community Foundation celebrated a welcome home blessing for Richard House. Rev. David Payne, Community Foundation representative Jayne Zirkel, and disaster case manager Angela Greene gathered with Mr. House around 10 a.m. in front of his new-to-him RV before he invited everyone inside for a tour. The home is warm, comfortable, […]
Welcome Home Blessing for Loretta Kemp
Tuesday morning of March 17 at 11 a.m., we gathered at Loretta Kemp’s home for her welcome home blessing. Joining me were Rev. David Payne, Beth Palmer (case manager), Mary Campana and Katie from Habitat for Humanity, and Kean Tonetti from the Foundation. It was a warm and meaningful visit with Ms. Kemp, a retired […]
Welcome Home Blessing for Gary Broach
For decades, Gary Broach, owner of Rhodes Taxidermy, has given back to this community, supporting 4-H, FFA and local youth programs across the Hill Country. He is not someone accustomed to being on the receiving end. After the July 4 flood damaged his home, the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country helped support the […]
‘We’re home’: Hill Country couple rebuilds after devastating July 4 flood
INGRAM, Texas — In the early hours of July 4, 2025, Mike Trolinger and Brenda Espinoza watched floodwaters swallow everything they had — their home, their belongings and nearly a century of family history. Months later, the Hill Country couple is back — rebuilding their lives along the Guadalupe River without paying a dime out of […]
More than baseball: Ingram Little League Ballpark reopens as symbol of recovery
Ingram’s Little League Ballpark officially reopened Saturday morning, marking a long-awaited opening day with a ceremony, ribbon cutting and a first pitch thrown by Jim Crane, who played a key role in rebuilding the fields after they were decimated in the July 4, 2025, flood. Crane, the Houston Astros owner and chairman, emphasized that a […]
Summit focuses on recovery
Business owners, civic leaders and community members filled the Hill Country Youth Event Center on Feb. 26 for the Ninth Annual Hill Country Economic Summit, hosted by the Kerrville Area Chamber of Commerce. The event ran from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., with lunch provided by Acapulco Restaurant, and covered everything from flood recovery finances […]
Community Foundation gives updates for housing flood victims
Following the Fourth of July floods, The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country has worked to raise money to give and support the community in the biggest times of need in Kerrville history. One of its biggest initiatives has been rebuilding efforts and housing people who lost their homes on the morning of the […]
235 days later, Hill Country flood survivors still face daily grief and slow recovery
It’s been 235 days since July 4, 2025, when devastating floods claimed 137 lives in the Texas Hill Country. We tend to remember tragedies on milestone dates – one year since the flood, five years since the storm – but people who lived through these moments need help every day. The Kerr County Flood Relief Fund was […]
Hill Country floods survivor hails ‘amazing’ assistance from relief groups
HUNT, Texas – Gary Broach owns a home in the Bumble Bee Hills community just south of Hunt. Broach’s home is not on the floodplain, but on the Fourth of July last year, backflow from the Guadalupe River pushed a wall of water and debris into Bumble Bee Creek. The water and the debris flooded 24 […]