A community built upon perseverance and hope for a new beginning.
MAY 20, 2021 [WOODSBORO, TEXAS] The Coastal Bend Disaster Recovery Group (CBDRG) in conjunction with their partners and project supporters welcomed 10 families to their new homes during the home dedication ceremony for the Tierra De Esperanza community. Tierra de Esperanza is a joint community development project in Woodsboro, Texas. Organizations such as Catholic Charities of Corpus Christi Inc., Center for Disaster Philanthropy, Disaster Aid of Ohio, Mennonite Disaster Service, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Rebuild Texas, Refugio County Community Development Foundation, the Town of Woodsboro, and many others worked together to see this project come to fruition.
This event marked an important milestone in the organization’s history by celebrating the remaining 10 families moving into their brand-new homes, completing Phase 2 of the Tierra de Esperanza community project. The neighborhood resides on 3.6 acres and the project’s partners committed a combined $2.3 million to build these 23 homes. Each of the families in this community were majorly affected by Hurricane Harvey and the new homes will provide relief to the families, who have been in need since the storm.
Three different floor plans were used when building these homes, ranging from two, three and four bedrooms, depending on the families’ size and needs. Each home is windstorm certified and built to withstand another potential disaster. Additionally, the homes include energy-efficient central HVAC, refrigerators, stoves, ceiling fans, and laminate flooring throughout.
Construction for the Tierra de Esperanza project began in September of last year during the COVID-19 pandemic and is CBDRG’s largest project to date. “When everyone started talking about this project, it was a little overwhelming, but when they started talking about they’re specific roles and the dollars to be donated, that’s when this partnership turned into a family,” shared Donna Rosson, CBDRG Board President. “To look around and see all these faces, from our partners who so willingly donated, to the volunteers who worked so hard to build these homes, to the families finally being able to move in, it’s really something wonderful – a true miracle.”
CBDRG relies primarily on volunteer labor to repair or construct homes at an affordable cost to stretch their donation dollars. To date, CBDRG volunteers have dedicated over 165,000 hours at a cost savings of $3.1 million to help homeowners in the Coastal Bend return to a new normal following the devastation from August 2017.
For over three years CBDRG has spent $7.7 million in construction costs and the coalition, full of non-profit organizations, has obligated over $21 million to repair, rebuild, and replace homes following the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. In total, CBDRG has rebuilt 62 homes, replaced 77 manufactured homes, and completed 160 major home repairs. CBDRG continues to seek volunteers, who range from skilled laborers to general help, and donations for recovery efforts. To learn more about CBDRG, visit www.coastalbenddrg.org.
ABOUT COASTAL BEND DISASTER RECOVERY GROUP
The Coastal Bend Disaster Recovery Group (CBDRG) is a volunteer-based coalition created to address the unmet needs of Coastal Bend area residents affected by disaster. CBDRG is a State/FEMA recognized long-term recovery organization and is registered with the State of Texas as a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation as authorized by the IRS. Established in 2015, CBDRG was formed to continuously coordinate long-term disaster recovery within the eleven-county region of the Texas Coastal Bend (Aransas, Bee, Brooks, Duval, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, Live Oak, Nueces, San Patricio, and Refugio) for current and future disasters.
Volunteer groups and individuals can sign up to join our efforts at our website www.coastalbenddrg.org/volunteer or email volunteers4cbdrg@gmail.com.