Newsroom

Friday October 25, 2019

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge LinaHidalgo established the Imelda Assistance Fund, in cooperation with the Greater Houston CommunityFoundation (GHCF), for survivors following Tropical Storm Imelda. The fund has received $260,000 indonations, with an additional $250,000 in commitments.

“I am happy to share with the public that as compassionate donations are flowing in for this effort, theGHCF staff and our appointed volunteer leaders have gotten a running start on distributing resources tothose who need it most, with some aid planned for disbursement by Thanksgiving,” Mayor SylvesterTurner said. “This will be a responsible and accountable process as well, designed to verify needs andprovide tailored assistance to the victims. More donations are needed as Houston shows that we all pulltogether in the aftermath of storm damage that, according to data gathered by FEMA and local nonprofits, affected more than 8,000 households.”

The fund’s advisory board assembled for their first meeting on October 16, to discuss fundraisingstrategies, community needs assessments, and funding priorities. The advisory board is co-chaired byWinell Herron, H-E-B Group VP of Public Affairs, Diversity, & Environmental Affairs, and LindsayTaylor Munoz, Greater Houston Partnership Director of Public Policy. The board includes six membersappointed by Mayor Turner and six members appointed by County Judge Hidalgo and the Harris CountyCommissioners Court.

“Survivors deserve to have every resource available and we will not stop fighting to help our communitiesmake this recovery as quick and effective as possible,” said Judge Hidalgo. “I want to thank those whovolunteered their time and expertise in making sure we secure the grant funds necessary to rebuild andrecover.”

The advisory board and grants committee has launched an accelerated round of grant funding to addressthe immediate needs of home stabilization and emergency financial assistance. The board and committeewill work with the Greater Houston Community Foundation to develop the specific criteria andapplication process for future rounds of grant funding; which will be announced in the coming weeks

>Those appointed by the mayor are Winell Herron, Juliana Bihlet, Tom Combs, Derrick Mitchell, LinaSabouni, and Michael Trevino. Appointees of the county judge are Lindsay Taylor Munoz, TanyaMakany-Rivera, Tom S. Ramsey, Francisco Sanchez, Jan Sexton, and William Taylor.

The Greater Houston Community Foundation will share information about all grants publicly on itswebsite and through other communications for complete transparency about the expenditure of funds. Tolearn more about the fund or to donate, please visit https://ghcf.org/imelda/.

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Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo is the head of Harris County’s governing body and Director of theHarris County’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Judge Hidalgo, alongsidefour County Precinct Commissioners, oversees a budget of approximately $5 billion that funds servicesand institutions for the third-largest county in the nation, home to nearly 5 million people. For moreinformation about Harris County and the Office of the County Judge, please visit: cjo.harriscountytx.gov.