Special to The News

The Rebuild Texas Fund is announcing $1.5 million in grant funding to help communities affected by Hurricane Harvey prepare for future hurricane seasons. To qualify for this grant award, projects must focus on items such as generator/power supply, communication and medical equipment, vehicles, rescue boats or building enhancements/modifications.

The Rebuild Texas Fund will award grants of up to $100,000 to non-profit or governmental organizations. Additional guidelines can be found at www.rebuildtx.org/prepare. Interested organizations can also email prepare@rebuildtx.org.

“There is a clear ongoing need for investment in preparedness, and research shows that every dollar spent on preparedness is worth six dollars in recovery,” said Neeraj Aggarwal, Rebuild Texas Fund program director. “The Rebuild Texas Fund is dedicated to equipping communities affected by Hurricane Harvey with the tools and resources they need to respond to a natural disaster in the future.”

Pre-proposal applications are due by Feb. 18. If invited, applicants will be required to submit a full proposal by March 15. Award notifications will be made by the end of April 2019.

The Rebuild Texas Fund, in conjunction with the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, previously awarded $1,426,275 to 30 projects in June 2018. These projects, ranging from swift boats to emergency power supplies, were instrumental in helping communities impacted by Hurricane Harvey prepare for the 2018 hurricane season.

Since Hurricane Harvey made landfall, the Rebuild Texas Fund has awarded $62 million to support rebuilding efforts throughout the affected regions. The Fund expects to fully award the remaining $38 million by July 2019 and will actively continue to work alongside communities through 2020.