Overview
The Texas General Land Office (GLO), through the Community Development and Revitalization division, works to rebuild Texas communities by putting Texans back in their homes, restoring critical infrastructure and mitigating future damage through resilient community planning. The GLO is setting a record pace administering both Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) and Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on behalf of the state of Texas.
More than $14 billion have been allocated for recovery and mitigation following Hurricanes Rita, Dolly, and Ike, the 2011 wildfires, the 2015 and 2016 floods, Hurricane Harvey, the 2018 South Texas floods, and the 2019 disasters. These grants can be used for a wide variety of activities including housing redevelopment, infrastructure repair and long-term planning, depending on HUD guidance.
Additionally, in 2017 the GLO was tapped by Governor Greg Abbott following Hurricane Harvey to be the first state agency in history to partner with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on a short-term housing assistance mission. While FEMA was solely responsible for applicant eligibility, the GLO was tasked with administering several short-term housing programs to provide temporary repairs or other housing options for thousands of residents across the Texas coast.