The Greater Houston Community Foundation said $28.9 million in grants were distributed Wednesday to 90 nonprofits; an initial $7.5 million round of grants was disbursed Oct. 3 to 28 aid groups.
Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett jointly formed the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund, which now has taken in more than $100 million in donations, up from about $79 million as of early last month. Officials said donations will continue to be accepted until Dec. 31.
The dollars are being overseen by the Greater Houston Community Foundation, a board of city and county appointees, with the help of a grants advisory committee comprised of nonprofit experts.
"Bouncing back from disaster is hard work for flood victims trying to repair homes, pay for temporary housing, replace damaged personal belongings and start their lives over," Emmett said. "So, the administrators of the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund are working hard to meet their needs. It's a process that is making a difference."
Turner and Emmett repeatedly have stressed that the funds will not fund any governmental activities. They have also said storm victims should not expect individual grants, however, instead guiding the funds to qualified nonprofits "mixing a sense of urgency with the need to be accountable and transparent to the public," as a Wednesday press release put it.
Residents in need of help -- middle-class storm victims as well as the indigent -- should call the 211 help line staffed by the United Way, whose staff members can direct callers to the appropriate nonprofits.
Early complaints about callers not getting the information they needed should be solved, Turner said, because United Way has increased staff at its call center.
"I would like to think there won't be any problems. So, if there are any questions people have trying to access the help, let me still encourage them to do 211," he said. "They're expecting more calls to come in and they've ramped up accordingly."
Many of the nonprofits have been using the grants to help clients repair storm-damaged homes, offer basic necessities such as baby formula and cleaning supplies, help cover the rent at storm victims' temporary housing, or add staff to help ease those and other aid processes.
Fund leaders are working to finish a third round of grant disbursements by January, officials said.
The first round of grants, intended to be fully spent by year's end, already have provided food, clothing or hygiene products to an estimated 75,000 households, direct financial assistance to nearly 2,500 homes, repairs to more than 1,100 flood-damaged structures, and furniture to 432 families.
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