Disaster Recovery Funding Rebuilds Housing and Revitalizes Neighborhoods

January 17, 2017  

Disaster Recovery Funding Rebuilds Housing and Revitalizes Neighborhoods

HUD User publishes a series of case studies based on federal, state, and local strategies that increase affordable housing opportunities and support sustainable community development. The projects and community development efforts featured in these reports have demonstrated innovation through a multitude of partnerships and initiatives.

After Hurricane Ike struck Houston and caused an estimated $4.6 billion in damage to the city’s neighborhoods, including more than 50 percent of the residences in its path, many returning residents lacked the financial resources to adequately rebuild their homes. To aid in the city’s recovery, Houston received two rounds of funding from the state of Texas’ Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program, which had received new funds in response to Hurricane Ike. The efforts funded by the Disaster Recovery Round Two (DR2) grant received the 2016 American Institute of Architects/HUD Secretary’s Award for Housing and Community Design in the category of Community-Informed Design for providing quality housing and improved neighborhood infrastructure for low- and moderate-income households. One innovative component of the DR2 grant, the housing catalogue, offered 13 designs for 1-story, single-family detached houses and a streamlined process for building permits.

Visit HUD User’s Case Studies page to learn more about Houston’s disaster recovery efforts and to view other promising examples of how communities across the nation are raising the bar on sustainable community development.

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