Overview

What is Harvey Home Connect?

Harvey Home Connect is a new common application and coordination system that will assist eligible, low-to-moderate income seekers of home repair services in the City of Houston and/or Harris County affected by Hurricane Harvey. Harvey Home Connect uses data to match eligible homeowners to reputable, vetted nonprofit organizations that provide home repair services.

 

We at Harvey Home Connect are committed to serving the most vulnerable populations, including but not limited to the elderly, low-income households, people with disabilities, families with undocumented household members, families with children, and households that did not qualify for FEMA assistance.

 

How can I apply to Harvey Home Connect?

Non-profit service providers can apply on behalf of their clients at HarveyHomeConnect.org.

 

Who are the home repair partner organizations?

Our partner home repair organizations are Avenue CDC, BakerRipley, BuildAid, Fifth Ward CRC, Habitat for Humanity Northwest Harris County, Houston Habitat for Humanity, Rebuilding Together Houston, SBP, Tejano Center for Community Concerns, and YWCA Houston. To apply for home repair services from these organizations, please visit HarveyHomeConnect.org.

 

What type of repairs can partner organizations perform?

Our partner organizations can repair homes in the City of Houston and/or Harris County that were damaged by Hurricane Harvey. Repairs are limited to less than half of the property value of the home, in accordance with Harris County permitting standards. Exact available funding differs by household income and by partner organization.

 

Could Harvey Home Connect be used for future disasters?

The technology infrastructure for Harvey Home Connect was built with the intention that it could be used for future disasters, if additional funding is secured. Current funding for the program is through April 2019.

 

Where can I direct questions about Harvey Home Connect?

Please direct questions about the Harvey Home Connect program to info@harveyhomeconnect.org, and a Harvey Home Connect representative will get back to you shortly. For media inquiries, please direct questions to Rachel Young at ryoung@ghcf.org.

Eligibility

Who is eligible to participate in Harvey Home Connect?

To be eligible to begin the Harvey Home Connect application process, the following criteria must be met:

1. The home is located in the City of Houston and/or Harris County.
2. Hurricane Harvey damaged the home.
3. The seeker lived in the home prior to Hurricane Harvey in August 2017.
4. The home is owned by the seeker, another member of their household, or a family member (living or deceased).
5. The household income is less than 400% of the federal poverty guidelines, which vary by household size.

In order to begin repairs on a home, we will also verify the following:

1. Property tax payments are up-to-date or homeowner can provide evidence of a payment plan
2. Mortgage is up-to-date or homeowner can provide evidence of a payment plan (if the home is mortgaged)

 **Please note that cases with delinquent property taxes or mortgage payments, liens, and/or bankruptcy could disqualify a home from being eligible to receive home repair services through Harvey Home Connect.**

 

Does filling out an application guarantee that my home will be repaired?

No. After you submit an application, there is a two-step eligibility verification process that must be passed in order to receive home repair services.

 

Eligibility Process:

1.     1. First, the Harvey Home Connect team will collect and verify all required documents related to your household income, property taxes, mortgage (if applicable), and home ownership (for full list of required documents, see the APPLICATION PROCESS section below).

2.     2. If the Harvey Home Connect team verifies you are eligible from an income, property taxes, mortgage, and home ownership perspective, a representative will connect you with a Harvey Home Connect home repair partner organization to complete a construction assessment on your own. The home repair organization will then determine whether your home is eligible for repairs based on the construction assessment.

 

Can Harvey Home Connect partner organizations repair damage to my home that was not the result of Hurricane Harvey?

No. At this time, Harvey Home Connect partner organizations can only repair damage that resulted directly from Hurricane Harvey.

 

What if I have already received some funds for home repair (FEMA, homeowners’ insurance, flood insurance, other home repair nonprofits, etc.)?

You can still apply to Harvey Home Connect, but please know that if you’re eligible to receive repairs, you must have documentation as to how these funds were spent. You may be asked to contribute some or all of these funds towards the repair costs.

 

I know I want to work with a specific home repair organization. Can I apply directly to that organization instead?

Our partner agencies are using Harvey Home Connect as their primary application. The fastest way to receive service is to apply at HarveyHomeConnect.org, and have us match you with the organization best suited to repair your home.  Due to the number of applications, we cannot guarantee that you will be matched with the agency of your choice.

 

How long will Harvey Home Connect accept applications?

Harvey Home Connect will accept applications for as long as our home repair partners have capacity to take additional cases.

 

Application Process

 

What documents are required for an application to be considered?

For each adult household member:

●      2 most recent pay stubs (note: we also accept other forms of income verification).

●      2 most recent checking account statements (if person has checking account).

●      1 most recent savings account statement (if person has savings account).

●      Tax return (if filed in past two years).

For each home:

●      Current deed, statement of ownership, or affidavit proving ownership.

●      Most recent mortgage statement (if home is mortgaged).

●      Property tax payment plan (if applicable; we’ll cross-reference all applications with the Harris County Tax Assessor’s database).

●      Receipts or itemized list of home repair expenditures from FEMA reward.

Is the application available in other languages?

Yes. The application is available in Spanish on the HarveyHomeConnect.org website. We have bilingual staff to assist clients in Spanish. We encourage speakers of languages other than English or Spanish to work with one of our disaster case management partner organizations who have multiple language capabilities in order to access services.

 

How long does it take to fill out a Harvey Home Connect application?

We recommend that you set aside at least 30 minutes to an hour to complete a Harvey Home Connect application. The form can take longer to complete for larger households. We worked hard to limit the amount of questions necessary to access Harvey Home Connect partner’s services.

 

Is my data safe?

We at Harvey Home Connect take data privacy and security seriously. We use technology platforms with robust data security measures, FormAssembly Compliance Cloud and Salesforce.org, to ensure Harvey Home Connect applicants’ personal data are safe. Please visit the links provided here to learn more.

Funding & Governance

 

How is Harvey Home Connect funded?

Harvey Home Connect is funded by the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund (HHRF) through a grant to SBP. A Steering Committee led by the Greater Houston Community Foundation, which administers HHRF oversees the governance of the program.

 

What is SBP?

SBP's mission is to shrink time between disaster and recovery. Since its founding in 2006 in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana following the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, SBP has rebuilt homes for more than 1,500 families with the help of 180,000 volunteers in New Orleans, LA; Joplin, MO; Staten Island, NY; Rockaway, NY; Monmouth and Ocean Counties, NJ; San Marcos, TX; Columbia, SC; White Sulphur Springs, WV; Baton Rouge, LA; Puerto Rico; and Houston, TX. 

SBP’s model is enhanced by AmeriCorps, which provides 240 members annually to manage worksites and clients, and train the organization’s volunteers nationally. SBP works to share lessons learned, prevent common barriers to recovery and help communities utilize SBP’s standardized, repeatable and proven-effective model. To learn more, visit www.SBPUSA.org and like/follow on Facebook & Twitter @SBPUSA. 

 

What is the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund?

After receiving an overwhelming number of inquiries from citizens and companies who wanted to help, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett established the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund, which accepted tax-deductible flood relief donations for victims that were affected by the storm. The Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund is administered by the Greater Houston Community Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity. Greater Houston Community Foundation (GHCF) is one of Houston's largest grant makers and provides individuals, families, corporations, foundations, and advisors with the ability to reach beyond what they could have ever imagined to expand philanthropic impact. To learn more, visit www.ghcf.org.

 

Who is funding Harvey Home Connect’s partner organizations?

The Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund provided over $32 million in funding to Harvey Home Connect partners. Some Harvey Home Connect partners have received additional funding support from other philanthropic sources.

 

Are you receiving any federal funding for the Harvey Home Connect program?

Harvey Home Connect does not receive any federal funding. Harvey Home Connect is funded by the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund. Harvey Home Connect’s partner nonprofits are rebuilding homes with funding from the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund and other private sources of funds.