Austin Community Foundation - Generosity Multiplied

Victim Fund, Volunteer Leadership

$130,000 to Austin Disaster Relief Network to support 400 families in Bastrop, most of whom had little to no insurance. (December 2011)

Family Support, Case Management and Basic Needs

$90,000 to Society of St. Vincent de Paul – South Central Region to support 23 caseworkers serving 800 families and helping them navigate federal, state and local agencies; insurance and contractors. (December 2011)

$50,145 to United Policy Holders, a nonprofit that provides families who are insured with workshops and instruction through its "Roadmap to Recovery" program. (December 2011)

$50,000 to Capital Area Food Bank, which distributed emergency food to its pantries in those areas as well as to continue to support the pantries it serves for the next 12 months. (December 2011)

$30,000 to Bastrop Pink Santa, which lost $15,000 of toys in the wildfire, and now must recover from that loss as well as the addition of up to 800 more children affected by the wildfire. (December 2011)

$29,376 to United Policyholders: Will extend the Roadmap to Recovery program grant awarded in December 2011 through the end of 2012.  With this supplemental grant, UP will conduct a follow-up one year recovery survey.  A workshop will also be held about upcoming deadlines in regards to insurance mortgages, and construction.  UP is a national nonprofit that helps wildfire victims replace and rebuild. (May 2012)

$70,000 to Bastrop Emergency Food Pantry: The First Step Wildfire Recovery Program is a 12-month assistance program designed to help at least 125 households affected by the Bastrop Wildfires achieve their goal of long-term recovery through case management, referrals, basic needs and/or rental/mortgage assistance. Case managers will meet with clients on a monthly basis to ensure that they are receiving the services and support that they need. The program will be marketed through flyers given out at referring agencies, the Pantry's walk-in clients and on the website. (May 2012)

$95,000 to Communities in Schools: The CIS Campus-Based Mental Health Services will address challenges facing students as a result of the wildfires. Services include crisis counseling for students who lost homes, a workshop for familes that will help them recognize the signs of pos- traumatic stress disorder and strategies for healing, donations of clothing and other basic needs, brokering the services of the local MHMR authority to provide additional mental health supports. For the 2012-2013 school year, CIS plans to provide comprehensive case-management to 120 students at Bastrop High School. (May 2012)

$2,000 to Write to Me Foundation: Funds are requested for the Prom Rack program which serves over 300 girls and boys a year in Central Texas by providing full prom attire. In answer to a call from the fire relief committee and the Smithville Chamber of Commerce, funds would be used to provide prom attire to youth in Bastrop County. Write To Me Foundation was formed to serve youth in the foster care system. (May 2012)

Immediate & Basic Needs (all in September 2011)

$10,100 for HEB Gift Cards to hand out to victims and volunteer fire fighters.

$5,000  to Bastrop Emergency Food Pantry to assist families with food.

$5,000 to Austin Disaster Relief Network to assist families with immediate needs.

$5,000 to Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society to assist in the rescue and recovery of livestock. (Donation from a fund that benefits solely animals)

$2,500 to Austin Humane Society to assist in the rescue and recovery of pets. (Donation from a fund that benefits solely animals)

$2,500 to Austin Pets Alive to assist in the rescue and recovery of pets. (Donation from a fund that benefits solely animals)

$5,000 to Heart of Pines Volunteer Fire Department to support volunteer fire fighter.             

$3,000 to Friends of Bastrop Animal Shelter to provide temporary housing and recovery of pets. (Donation from a fund that benefits solely animals)

$2,000 to Emancipet to assist in the rescue and recovery of pets. (Donation from a fund that benefits solely animals)

LEARN MORE about the Central Texas Wildfire Fund

Debris Clean-Up and Economic Recovery

$100,574 to American YouthWorks to support staff-led volunteer groups clearing, repairing and rebuilding Bastrop State Park, which brings in more than $2 million in revenue to Bastrop County each year. The wildfires destroyed more than 96 percent of the approximately 6,565-acre park. (December 2011)

$120,000 to American YouthWorks: Under the direction of the Texas Forest Service, Texas Parks and Wildlife, and other partners, AYW’s Bastrop Recovery Crew will perform ecological restoration projects on public and private lands as outlined in the "Bastrop Lost Pines Habitat Recovery Project".  Goals include erosion control, replanting, Loblolly pine reforestation, fire mitigation and hazardous tree clearing activities. (May 2012)

$200,000 to Bastrop County: The Lost Pines Recovery Team will work collaboratively with approximately 3,000 private property owners to implement erosion control measures, plant native grass and seeds, plant Loblolly pine seedlings, and reduce the amount of hazardous fuel still existing. The objectives are designed to complement the work of the Long Term Recovery Committee by providing incentives to property owners to rebuild  their homes and lives within the burn area. (May 2012)

Rebuilding Homes

$50,000 to Spicewood Long-Term Recovery Committee, sponsored by Grace Outreach Family Church, to rebuild homes lost to wildfire that were also uninsured or underinsured. (Because Bastrop was declared a "federal disaster area," residents in similar circumstances received assistance from FEMA. Spicewood was not declared a federal disaster area.) (December 2011)

$5,000 to Spicewood Long-Term Recovery Committee to purchase tools, workboots and protective gear. (December 2011)

$205,096.24 to Bastrop Long-Term Recovery Team: The Bastrop County Long Term Recovery Team will rebuild 10 fire-resistant homes for uninsured low-income families and hire a Bastrop County Rebuild Resource Manager to oversee all phases of the building process. (May 2012)

$65,000 to Spicewood Long-Term Recovery Committee, sponsored by Grace Outreach Family Church: This money will go toward a model green home, part of the "Green Home Reconstruction Project" to encourage families who lost their homes in the Labor Day Fires to consider replacing them with environmentally friendly, economical homes. (May 2012)

$50,000 to Frameworks Community Development Corp.: The Returning Home project will focus on providing long-term housing solutions for fire survivors, especially those homeowners who are uninsured, didn't receive an SBA loan or can't rebuild.  Frameworks will meet with 300 fire survivor households and determine action Steps to resolve barriers to financing replacement while helping them gain access to affordable finance programs and home-buyer education. (May 2012)

Restoring Safety

$35,000 to Spicewood Volunteer Fire Department to purchase a fire-fighting brush truck and replace one of their fire trucks that was lost in the wildfire. (December 2011)

$20,000 to Texas Wildfire Relief Fund to purchase gear for volunteer firefighters. (December 2011)