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 flood.
Since launch, the Community Foundation’s Rebuild Kerr initiative has deployed 31 case managers who have engaged 613 households in active disaster case management, with zero households awaiting assignment. This means their intake pipeline is fully covered, system capacity is aligned with demand and no survivor is left waiting in limbo for assistance.
Austin Dickson, CEO of the Community Foundation, has a team who works with local and state members to find or build programs to continue to support those who need it.
“We are seeing steady, measurable progress across the county, with homes under construction and families transitioning into permanent housing,” Dickson said. “Each step forward in this recovery is reinforcing the resilience and strength of this community.”
The Temporary Housing Program remains the backbone of stabilization, with 145 households currently housed as of Monday morning — that’s 315 individuals who woke up in temporary housing.
This program is doing exactly what it was designed to do: create breathing room for families while permanent housing solutions move forward, Dickson said.
In Home Repair and Reconstruction, the foundation has decisively shifted from assessment to visible rebuilding. There are 44 homes under active construction and 18 homes complete, representing meaningful momentum and tangible progress in neighborhoods across the county. There are additional 54 homes in the current pipeline.
The foundation has also strategically expanded its housing toolkit. The RV Program now includes manufactured housing, increasing its ability to deliver durable, long-term replacement units.
Thus far, 14 RV or modular homes have been delivered to qualified flood survivors.
Combined with Down Payment Assistance, which has benefitted 13 survivor families whose homes were rendered uninhabitable, these programs create a genuine pathway to long-term stability — particularly for renters at the time of the flood.
So far, 146 households have received Unmet Needs assistance, averaging approximately $3,600 per household. The largest assistance categories remain property taxes and essential furniture replacement. Households continue progressing through document verification to ensure eligibility and compliance, maintaining both speed and stewardship.
The “Welcome Home” initiative is the newest effort to celebrate every family who has secured a permanent housing solution through the Community Foundation’s Rebuild Kerr initiative.
The Hunt Preservation Society is coordinating celebrations in West Kerr County, while Light on the Hill is leading efforts in East Kerr County. The LTRG’s Emotional and Spiritual Wellbeing Group is offering prayer support and helping to provide “Welcome Home” baskets from H-E-B to mark each family’s return home.
Of the $50 million committed to housing initiatives in the Kerrville area, the Housing Fund of the Community Foundation’s Rebuild Kerr effort has granted about $17.7 million of that total to 14 nonprofits.
To read more about three people who were able to get back into their homes with the help of the Foundation, read below.
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