Texas Appleseed

Individual tickets are available for this year’s Good Apple Dinner on Nov. 5 at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Austin! This special evening will honor Travis Torrence with the J. Chrys Dougherty Good Apple Award in recognition of his exceptional leadership and community impact. We will also celebrate Alston & Bird with the Pro Bono Leadership Award for their unwavering partnership and outstanding pro bono support. We invite you to join us for this memorable night. Your presence and support helps advance meaningful policy that benefits children, families, and communities across Texas. Secure your spot here → https://lnkd.in/gPD6xsEb

Our Executive Director, Deborah Fowler, was honored last week as the 2025 Advocate of the Year along with other notable advocates at the 2025 Pillars of Justice annual celebration hosted by the Appleseed Network in Washington, D.C. This honor is significant to Deborah, who has been with Texas Appleseed for twenty years. She first started as staff attorney, and now serves as our Executive Director. Deborah emphasized the crucial role of the Appleseed Network in supporting the independent policy work of the 20+ Appleseed centers across the country and in Mexico. She highlighted how vital that is in stepping into various “justice gaps” that exist in different states. Each Appleseed center is grounded in the communities it serves and implements specific policy solutions tailored to their needs. She extended her gratitude to the Appleseed Network, the pro bono partners, the leaders of each Appleseed center, and the growing community of donors who are committed to advancing progress in every corner of the country. Deborah – congratulations from all of us at Texas Appleseed on this well-deserved honor in recognition of your hard work driving change for Texas’ most vulnerable communities. Photo credit: Appleseed Foundation

Policy change must be rooted in data. I am so impressed by Texas Appleseed's research team's dogged pursuit of what the data really show about FEMA's response to the July 4th floods.

The latest FEMA update to the 2025 Central Texas Flood Dashboard shows some striking numbers. Families who apply for FEMA assistance are generally receiving it – except for in Kerr, Williamson, and Travis County. Kerr County, the hardest hit county in the disastrous July 4th floods, has the lowest eligibility and referral rates in the state. One month after Hurricane Beryl hit, 88% of applicants had been referred for FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program (IHP). Roughly one month after the Central Texas Floods, just 42% of applicants from Kerr County had been referred for IHP Assistance. That means FEMA isn’t even evaluating the majority of applications from Kerr County for eligibility. A common misconception behind the low rates is that people are asking for assistance on their second homes – that’s not true. 94% of applicants in Kerr County are applying because of damage to their primary residence. Read more at the link below about what assistance is going out to Texas flood survivors, who’s applying for help, and the possible role of federal policy changes and restructuring in the data trends. https://lnkd.in/gSWCazYp

So excited to share two things: 1) Texas Appleseed's newly released Disaster Equity Data Portal, and 2) Thank you to the Texas Bar Foundation for supporting Texas Appleseed's response to the July 4th floods. See below for more details on both.

Natural disasters do not discriminate based on income, but lower-income Texans face much bigger hurdles when it comes to recovering following a disaster. After the July 4th weekend floods in Central Texas, we immediately went to work analyzing early FEMA data to understand the needs of people applying for aid, what percentages of applicants were approved for help, and how to increase that number. As of September 3rd, FEMA data show that 39% of applicants make $30,000 or less per year, and 68% make $60,000 or less per year. The data also show that only 3% of applicants had flood insurance, and only 29% had homeowners insurance. More information is available at https://lnkd.in/d7KX7xkR. We are using this information to advocate for change and to equip partners on the ground with the information they need to help people apply for FEMA aid. We are grateful to the Texas Bar Foundation for an Emergency Disaster Relief Grant that will help provide critical recovery and FEMA-related data to Central Texas flood survivors. We are thankful to be partners in this work.

Quick recovery from the catastrophic Central Texas floods is extremely important. Families still need help, resources and healing. In the latest news: The Individual Assistance application period for the July floods has been extended until September 28, 2025. If you know someone affected by the disaster, they can apply for help at disasterassistance.gov or call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362. Having trouble with FEMA? Call TRLA’s Hotline at 956-996-8752 and press option 3 for disaster-related assistance.  817-339-5391 for LANWT’s disaster intake line in San Saba and Tom Green counties. Check out our Data Equity Data Portal to learn more about who’s getting aid and who’s not when natural disasters strike at → https://lnkd.in/gJUqZude https://lnkd.in/giU-uEWG

📢We’re hiring! Do you have administrative experience? An interest in public interest law, policy advocacy, and social justice nonprofit work? The ability to manage multiple projects? Then apply to be our new Pro Bono & New Projects Coordinator! We will be accepting applications until September 12, 2025. https://lnkd.in/gtqEQXiN