HUNT, Texas \u2014 For months, disaster case managers have heard stories of homes being lifted off their foundations as a result of the Fourth of July floods, and their mission is to help the affected families any way they can.<\/p>\n
In Hunt, seven months after the flood, broken glass and concrete slabs remain.<\/p>\n
\u201c[This is a] private residence off Highway 39,\u201d said case manager Chae Spencer. \u201cAs you see the crosses\u2026lives were lost here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The home in question belonged to Spencer\u2019s close family friends and was lifted off its foundation after being consumed by floodwater during the flood.<\/p>\n
The family was granted $250,000 to rebuild from the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, and soon after the flood, Spencer took on the role of lead disaster case manager for her community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey didn\u2019t think there was any help for them, they really didn\u2019t,\u201d she said. \u201cThey had no hope. They had lost hope for help. It was a lot of tears shed when they were approved.\u201d<\/p>\n
For years, Hunt has been home to Spencer\u2019s family, but the Guadalupe River rising nearly 40 feet has changed this town, and the people who live there, forever.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t know who was alive, and we didn\u2019t know who wasn\u2019t,\u201d she said. \u201cWe heard so many rumors and stories, and sadly, some of them were not rumors.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the rebuild continues in Hunt, she and about 30 other case managers are helping flood survivors along the road to recovery.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur honor and our privilege to love on them right where they are and help however we can. Whether it be with temporary housing, or whether it be just to listen,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Giving families hope during unknown times is what these case managers do. Spencer doesn\u2019t want the experience to be inauthentic for the people who have lost so much.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is so personal,\u201d Spencer said. \u201cYou can\u2019t do this robotic.\u201d<\/p>\n
She and others have been participating in training along the way to help them better serve their clients.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are our problem solvers,\u201d said Austin Dickson, CEO of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country.”They are our shock absorbers, and that\u2019s why the streets literally should be named after them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
With Hunt being a small and tight-knit community, Spencer says some days are harder than others.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve heard a lot of \u2018why me?\u2019,\u201d Spencer said. \u201cIt\u2019s all hard, but some of our friends have lost multiple people in their family, and their lives will never be the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
So far, the Flood Relief Fund has granted $55 million. They have been supporting over 1,000 families, 500 small businesses, and 85 nonprofits in the Texas Hill Country.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is neighbors helping neighbors,\u201d Spencer said. \u201cAnd I felt the call; this is not a job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even though the green ribbons in Hunt are a reminder of the 119 lives lost, they’re a symbol of a community that\u2019s not easily broken. These case managers are continuing to help the survivors move forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHearing their stories and listening and the personal relationships, that\u2019s why we\u2019re here,\u201d Spencer said. \u201cWe\u2019re not here as a job. We\u2019re here as friends and as neighbors to hear those stories, to walk alongside them. Whatever they need and wherever they are in their walk.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HUNT, Texas \u2014 For months, disaster case managers have heard stories of homes being lifted off their foundations…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161155,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[21023,2160,132,134,133,1570,102,138,223,82,1659,1569,2053,835],"class_list":{"0":"post-161154","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-austin","8":"tag-amber-hughes","9":"tag-app-top-stories","10":"tag-austin","11":"tag-austin-headlines","12":"tag-austin-news","13":"tag-ctv","14":"tag-dallas","15":"tag-el-paso","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-san-antonio","18":"tag-texas-floods","19":"tag-texas-what-you-need-to-know","20":"tag-top-stories","21":"tag-vod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}