A year on, Habitat Kerr County expects 30 flood-impacted families home

A year after the July 4 flood, Habitat for Humanity Kerr County expects to have 30 flood-impacted families back in their homes by the anniversary, the nonprofit said.

The work has ranged from major repairs to complete rebuilds and new construction across Kerrville, Center Point and Comfort. Ten of the 30 families are moving into Mariposa, Habitat’s new affordable housing community; the rest are returning to repaired or rebuilt homes on their original sites.

Habitat said the effort has also pushed money back into the local economy. More than 98% of the disaster-recovery funding it received has been spent locally, the organization said — amounting to more than $5 million directed to area subcontractors, suppliers and service providers.

That work was funded largely through the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country and its Kerr County Flood Relief Fund, which Habitat credited with letting it expand staff and construction capacity. After the flood, Habitat took on the role of general contractor for complex repairs, rebuilds and new homes while coordinating local subcontractors, suppliers and caseworkers.

“The flood required Habitat to pivot, grow and respond in ways we had never been asked to before, but it also reaffirmed why we exist,” said Executive Director Mary Campana, who said staff carried their own grief from the disaster even as they worked to get families home.

The milestone does not mark the end of the recovery work. Ten more families remain on Habitat’s disaster caseload, and the organization said it will keep working with them through the repair and rebuilding process. Habitat has also continued its longer-term affordable-housing mission, recently narrowing an interest list of about 700 households to its next group of qualified families and beginning construction on three traditional Habitat homes.

Habitat for Humanity Kerr County, a nonprofit homebuilder and mortgage lender, has built and preserved affordable housing in the county for more than 35 years. More information is at habitatkerr.org.