From staff reports

 

The Rebuild Texas Fund is announcing $1,500,000 in grant funding to help communities affected by Hurricane Harvey prepare for future hurricane seasons. In order to qualify for this grant award, projects must focus on items such as generator/power supply, communication and medical equipment, vehicles, rescue boats or building enhancements/modifications.

The Rebuild Texas Fund will award grants of up to $100,000 to non-profit or governmental organizations. Additional guidelines can be found at www.rebuildtx.org/prepare. Interested organizations can also email prepare@rebuildtx.org.

“There is a clear ongoing need for investment in preparedness, and research shows that every dollar spent on preparedness is worth six dollars in recovery,” said Neeraj Aggarwal, Program Director of the Rebuild Texas Fund. “The Rebuild Texas Fund is dedicated to equipping communities affected by Hurricane Harvey with the tools and resources they need to respond to a natural disaster in the future.”

Pre-proposal applications are due by Monday, February 18. If invited, applicants will be required to submit a full proposal by Friday, March 15. Award notifications will be made by the end of April 2019.

The Rebuild Texas Fund, in conjunction with the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, previously awarded $1,426,275 to 30 projects in June 2018. These projects, ranging from swift boats to emergency power supplies, were instrumental in helping communities impacted by Hurricane Harvey prepare for the 2018 hurricane season.

In Community and Economic Development, the organization provided grants to the Greater Orange Area Chamber of Commerce, Orange County, and the South East Texas Regional Planning Commission.

For Education and Child Care, grants were awarded to Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Little Cypress – Mauriceville Consolidated ISD, Orangefield ISD, and Vidor ISD.

For Housing, grants were provided to Nehemiah’s Vision, Samaritan’s Purse, and The Salvation Army.

Since Hurricane Harvey made landfall, the Rebuild Texas Fund has awarded $62M to support rebuilding efforts throughout the affected regions. The Fund expects to fully award the remaining $38M by July 2019 and will actively continue to work alongside communities through 2020.

The Rebuild Texas Fund is a collaborative project of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and the OneStar Foundation, established to support the rebuilding efforts in communities impacted by Hurricane Harvey. The Rebuild Texas Fund works alongside organizations and community leaders in the following six focus areas: community and economic development; education and childcare; health; housing; rebuilding small businesses and workforce and transportation. The Rebuild Texas Fund will fund projects and organizations through July 2019 and will continue to work alongside communities through 2020. Funding through the Rebuild Texas Fund is provided to eligible nonprofit, government, corporate, and philanthropic organizations working on the ground in affected Texas communities. More information about the Rebuild Texas Fund is available at www.rebuildtx.org.