When February’s ice storm caused unprecedented power outages throughout much of Texas, Yeneka Younger (pictured above) shivered in an unheated Dallas home for days. But that wasn’t the worst of it. The freezing temperatures caused pipes to burst in her kitchen resulting in extensive water damage to her cabinets and flooring.
The Woodlands-based Woodforest National Bank, a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas), teamed up with FHLB Dallas to disburse more than $250,000 in disaster rebuilding assistance to 28 homeowners in Houston, Dallas and Refugio who are still rebuilding from 2017’s Hurricane Harvey and to provide support to the 2021 ice storm victims across Texas. Disaster rebuilding assistance provides funds for the repair and restoration of owner-occupied housing affected by a federally declared disaster within FHLB Dallas’ five-state district.
Younger, one of the recipients—referred to Woodforest National Bank by community partner Southern Dallas Progress Community Development Corp. (CDC)—received an $8,365 disaster rebuilding assistance subsidy from Woodforest and FHLB Dallas to repair her kitchen.
“This program helped me regain my life back by fixing my kitchen,” Younger says. “I don’t know where I would be without their help. They were the steppingstone I needed.”
“When a natural disaster strikes, like what happened with the Texas power outages, homeowners can be taken by surprise with unexpected and costly repairs,” says Krystian Reyes, Woodforest National Bank’s community development relationship manager for Dallas. “The disaster rebuilding assistance program provides a lifeline for homeowners impacted by natural disasters.”
FHLB Dallas set aside $500,000 for disaster rebuilding assistance in 2021 and in August, it added another $250,000 due to significant demand. After Hurricane Ida, it set aside an additional $500,000.
“Our members put their communities first, and we commend Woodforest for assisting victims of the Texas ice storm and Hurricane Harvey,” says Greg Hettrick, first vice president and director of community investment at FHLB Dallas. “They are making a positive impact.”
Established in 1980, Woodforest National Bank operates more than 760 branches in 17 states across the U.S. The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank System created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $60.2 billion as of September 30, provides competitively priced loans and other credit products to approximately 800 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas.
