Houston City Council officially approved the amended plan for its $314 million in CDBG-DR funds on August 13, with $100 million going to the repair and remedy of housing damaged from Hurricane Beryl and the May 2024 derecho. This is a huge victory for community members, advocates, and elected officials who have fought tirelessly for months to ensure that Houstonians should have the opportunity to make their homes whole again. And this work was done with a huge hurdle in front of this coalition.
Originally, the plans for this $314 million in funding had zero dollars going to housing, with money going to other projects such as emergency vehicles and other line items not tied directly to disaster recovery. Once community members caught wind of this, organizers acted quickly to convene. First, with a town hall in May to speak directly to elected officials and inform a wider net of Houstonians of what was happening, then this was followed with testimony at city hall to fight for this critical funding.
The action was working; Mayor John Whitmire indicated that he would allocate $50 million in the funding plan for housing, but community members were not satisfied. They kept at it with a suggestion to at least double this amount to try to meet the needs that were previously outlined by the federal government. Throughout this process, Council Member Tiffany Thomas had worked with community members and advocates to assess need and utilize her power, as City Council’s Housing and Affordability Committee chair, to ensure housing dollars were integrated in this plan. Thomas introduced an amendment that added an additional $50 million for housing, getting the total of housing funding to the desired goal of $100 million.
“We hear about roofs still tarped and elevators still broken at senior facilities,” Texas Housers’ Julia Orduña said. “That $100 million will truly support needs across single-family and multi-family housing that have not attained stability post-disaster.”
On August 13, CM Thomas’ amendment was successfully added, and the entire $314 million plan was approved. This essential funding for housing would not have materialized without community speaking out. So many Houstonians have been fighting to make their homes liveable – from those who received quick and shoddy repairs, to those who never were repaired in the first place. These community members understood the task at hand and communicated to their elected leaders that their homes would not be left behind.
Texas Housers is immensely proud to have worked with community partners in this win, including Texas Organizing Project, Texas Appleseed, CEER Coalition, and Northeast Action Collective, and several city council members including Council Members Tiffany Thomas, Leticia Plummer, Edward Pollard, and Julian Ramirez. This victory for Houstonians trying to make their homes whole is hardly the last step – there is much more work to do – but it is a sign of what can happen when you do not yield, but instead fight for what you are entitled to.
