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Aug 16, 2012 | Chris Files

The Behind the Scenes Story of the Bastrop Fire Recovery

Fire

Chris Files is the President of the Bastrop County Long Term Recovery Committee

 

The story of the Bastrop County Long Term Recovery Team (BCLTRT) is one of struggle, hard work and determination to help the folks that were affected by the devastating wildfires in Bastrop County last September, which destroyed 1691 homes and 38 businesses and resulted in 2 deaths.  It was the largest fire in Texas history and the third largest fire in US history with regards to the number of homes destroyed. Of the homes destroyed in Bastrop County approximately 276 were uninsured and 747 were low income. As a result, FEMA and the Texas Department of Emergency Management were charged with the responsibility of assisting with the establishment of a Long Term Recovery Organization (LTRO) to assist the community with recovery from this disaster.

 

The first organizational meeting of the BCLTRT was held on September 27, 2011, when the fire was still just 98% contained. The task ahead for the BCLTRT was daunting and at times seemed insurmountable. However, we did have the support and direction of the faith based disaster organizations with which we continue to work with today. We were an organization in its infancy, struggling to find how it was supposed to accomplish what its purpose was without any funds to do it. We had no office, no phone, and the members of the organization worked out of their cars and their own offices. Our meetings were held at various churches in the County.

 

All of us worked as volunteers; no one was paid. All of us did it because it needed to be done, even if doing so would mean great personal sacrifices to our own careers and families. It had to be done. We could not just turn our backs on these individuals and families struggling to survive.  But where would we get the money? We had no clue. We really just thought the money would come in, but it didn’t. Early on the decision was made that the money that came into the county through the BCMA for wildfire relief would be distributed to individual households in need, so we realized none of that money. We hadn’t filed to be a non-profit corporation and had not received our 501(c)3 tax exempt status yet so we were ineligible for any grants or any of the money from the concert. For all of 2011, the organization received only $10,332.34 in grants and donations.  Of that amount we spent $500 on gift cards for Bastrop students in need because that donation was specifically earmarked for students, and paid $3,000.00 for rent to keep the doors open at the Bastrop County Fire Relief distribution center. 

 

All the while we continued to help people as best we could. Our volunteer coordinators, Kate Johnston and Paige Webb, were unbelievable. With little direction, they continued to organize and direct the hundreds of volunteers pouring into our community. Most of those volunteers doing debris clean up were organized by those two woman. In addition, Mennonite Disaster Services and Christian Aid Ministries working in conjunction with the BCLTRT were out there helping folks rebuild their homes if they had the money for materials either through FEMA or insurance. 

 

By the end of 2011 the struggles the BCLTRT were going through started to take its toll. The decision was made to move forward with the organization becoming a non-profit corporation and seek 501(c)3 status so that the organization could seek grants and donations that would be tax deductible. Two out of four officers and one other board member resigned and a third officer agreed to stay until we could fill his position as chairman. Some said it was the end of the BCLTRT, but it was not. 

 

On January 20, 2012, new officers were elected.  This was the first I was involved with the BCLTRT in an official capacity just having been elected vice-chair and appointed to serve as the chair of the unmet needs table, which literally is a table that funders with money for construction projects sit at and decide whether the cases that come before them should receive money.

 

That same day, the first meeting of the unmet needs table occurred. There was one case presented to us and it was a request for a rebuild. She was an uninsured elderly woman on a limited fixed income, living with friends, but had all her FEMA money and the money she received from the BCMA available to assist with her rebuild. Fortunately the representative from the Episcopal Diocese of Texas and Austin Disaster Relief Network made the decision to go out on a limb with us and fund the remaining $30,000 worth of materials necessary to build this home. 

 

Their decision was the turning point for this organization and the impetus to keep us moving forward. Finally, funds had come into the organization to do what it is we were supposed to do: assist uninsured and underinsured low income individuals and families with recovery from the wildfires. If not for the courage of these two faith based organizations to step out on that limb with us, it is doubtful that the BCLTRT would have remained in existence. Since that time our funding partners; the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, Austin Disaster Relief Network, Lutheran Social Services Disaster Response, United Methodist Church SWTX Conference, Bastrop Christian Ministerial Alliance, Smithville Ministerial Alliance, First United Methodist Church Bastrop, Bastrop Rotary Club and Presbyterian Churches USA, have funded over $600,000 on 31 projects toward the recovery efforts in Bastrop County. However, these funding sources are nearing the end of their available funds and other sources of funds will need to be identified for these projects to continue.

 

Through our volunteers, we have coordinated projects on over 1400 properties and assisted literally thousands of fire survivors with their recovery. Volunteers working with our organization have worked over 250,000 volunteer hours on everything from debris clean-up to the rebuilding of homes.  If you only valued their time at $10.00 per hour, they have provided $2.5 million worth of services to our community. Please bear in mind that when you read an article or see a news video about a church group helping fire survivors that work in most cases has all been coordinated through the BCLTRT. All total, the team has coordinated the rebuilding of 29 homes, replaced one manufactured home and has 12 more homes under construction, thereby significantly increasing the tax base in our community, which is important to both the County and the School districts.

 

On February 3, 2012 the BCLTRT incorporated as a Texas Non-Profit Corporation through the Texas Secretary of State and on April 11 achieved 501(c)3 status with the IRS. On May 12 the BCLTRT was awarded a grant from the Austin Community Foundation in the amount of $205,096 for which $151,736 was designated for the rebuilding of 10 homes and $52,360 was designated for salaries for construction personnel. On June 12 the BCLTRT was awarded a $150,000 grant from the Meadows Foundation for construction of 15 homes. Neither of these grants covered the total construction costs of the homes which runs around $50,000.00 per home for material cost only, but it certainly covers a significant amount.

 

In May, the BCLTRT hired its first employee, Kate Johnston, the volunteer coordinator for the organization, with the use of a $20,000 grant specifically for that purpose we got from the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. In addition, we got four full-time workers; two crew leaders, one administrative staff and one case worker provided to us by Texas Workforce Solutions by virtue of a National Emergency Grant awarded to the Texas Workforce Commission. 

 

On June 15, the team moved into its new office located at 1106 C College Street in Bastrop and got a central telephone number that fire survivors could contact for assistance. Lutheran Social Services Disaster Response provided us with a fully paid construction supervisor who had just finished helping with the recovery in Galveston from Hurricane Ike, and with the $53,360 we got from ACF for salaries, we were able to fund 2 more positions for a construction manager and a construction staff person. We have added an additional six NEG case workers and hope to add another NEG worker to help with volunteer services.

 

Even though we have received close to $950,000 in funds, almost $770,000 of that amount is specifically for construction projects of which nearly $250,000 has already been spent on those projects and the other $520,000 has already been committed for an additional 16 rebuild or finish out projects in the next 6–9 months. We still need to fund an additional 20 projects to reach our target goal of 36 homes in the next nine months.

 

We have applied for numerous grants, and hopefully our fundraiser, A Night of Hope, to be held at the Hyatt Lost Pines on the evening of Sept. 4, the anniversary of the fire, will move us closer toward that goal. I am so proud to be a part of such an incredible group of people, and I am proud of what the team has been able to accomplish. We are one resilient group of people.

 

-The Episcopal Diocese of Texas gave funds from a grant provided by Episcopal Relief and Development, Calvary Episcopal Church Bastrop and the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. 


Visit www.franlan.com/BCLTR/ to learn more about the BCLTRT and A Night of Hope.