TEXAS — The Community Foundation has committed millions toward housing recovery, helping Hill Country families repair homes damaged in the Fourth of July flood.   

From saws to nail guns, the sounds of construction are familiar in Kerr County as the rebuilding continues. 

“Forty different homes,” said Mary Campana, executive director of Habitat for Humanity in Kerr County. “We are focused on Kerrville, Center Point and Comfort.”

Campana said Habitat for Humanity is leveraging its relationships with local contractors to get people back in their homes.  

“We currently have 19 homes under repair right now at once,” Campana said. “We have three that are complete. So, it’s just been one after another.”

Gary Dickson’s house was one of many damaged last summer. He and his wife Annette have lived in Kerrville for 20 years — the last 10 in a senior community not too far from the Guadalupe River. They were evacuated on July Fourth.

“Habitat for Humanity came to us at just the right time,” Gary Dickson said. “It was just a godsend. We’re so grateful. He helped us. We hung on to him, and the water was up to our chest.”

“I’d say if we let go of him just for a second, we would have been swept away,” Annette Dickson said. “That water was so powerful.”

The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country has made a $50 million commitment toward housing recovery. Habitat for Humanity was granted $3 million of that to assist.

“Emotional and stressful process for a lot of the flood victims,” said Jay Eickhoff, disaster recovery construction manager for Habitat for Humanity Kerr County. “We’re trying to alleviate that stress, not only build their home, but really connect with them.”

From replacing flooring and sheetrock to installing new fixtures, Eickhoff has walked through the renovation process with these families. He said 75% of the homes Habitat is rehabbing have extensive damage. 

“We’re trying to get them back in here and back on their feet and back to what’s a new normal for them as quick as possible,” Eickoff said.

As construction continues, the Flood Relief Fund is covering the cost of temporary housing for displaced families for up to a year. 

“One-hundred-eleven households slept in an apartment or a house or an Airbnb at no cost to them because of our temporary housing program,” said Austin Dickson, CEO of Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country.

The Dicksons are grateful they’ve been able to stay in town with their son.

“We thought it was going to be a couple weeks, then a couple months, and here it is, July to December,” Annette Dickson said. 

Campana said the grant from the foundation is boosting the local economy while helping families rebuild. 

“Ninety-eight percent of that investment is going directly back into the economy because we’re using all local contractors and all suppliers,” Campana said.

Meanwhile, the Dicksons are close to the finish line, and this rebuild is just a small part of the long-term recovery in Hill Country. 

“People get upset when they think we went through this,” Annette Dickson said. “We say, ‘Don’t. God was with us every step of the way.’”