Year One of Recovery
One year after the July 4th flood swept through Kerr County, 42 families have returned to fully furnished homes. These families, who lost the primary place they called home, have now walked back through a front door to find a made bed, a stocked kitchen, and a room arranged just for them. That is what this first year represents, and it would not have been possible without the hundreds of people who showed up to make it happen: the donors, the volunteers, the Project Managers, the partner organizations, and the flood survivors themselves, who have met every hard step of this journey with a resilience and grace that continues to inspire everyone around them.
How It Began, and What It Became
We are neighbors who live along the Guadalupe River in Kerrville—residents of this community for over 40 years, in the design and build industry for longer than that. The July 4th flood hit just outside our doorsteps, and what began as a response to what was right in front of us—neighbors on Arcadia Loop whose lives had been turned upside down—quickly grew into something far larger and more beautiful than we could have anticipated. Within months, a circle that started on one street expanded to families from Hunt to Centerpoint, and the community rallying around them had grown to include partners, professionals, and donors from across the Hill Country, San Antonio, Austin, and well beyond.
That is still what moves us most about this work: neighbors helping neighbors. Near and far, known and new, showing up in every form of generosity imaginable. We set out to help our community, and our community met us more than halfway.
The Arcadia Recovery Collaboration (ARC) is a program of The Impact Guild, a community development 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a mission to connect resources with neighborhood needs, and to bridge Kerr County to other central Texas communities in the shared work of recovery and resilience. At the core of everything we do is a belief we hold deeply: every community already holds what it needs to care for its own. Our role is to organize and multiply those gifts—the skills, the time, the relationships, the generosity—so that care can flow where it is most needed.
A Community That Showed Up
The flood damaged or destroyed more than 400 homes across Kerr County, many of them primary residences belonging to families who were not in the floodplain, did not have flood insurance, and found themselves facing the overwhelming cost of starting over. ARC focuses specifically on flood survivors returning to their primary home, the place where daily life happens, and families rebuild. Helping that house become a true home again—fully furnished, functional, and welcoming—is at the heart of everything we do.
At the heart of how we do it are our volunteer Project Managers. Whether they come with the expertise of a design professional or the skills of a highly organized, design-minded community member, each Project Manager commits to walking with one family through Arc’s four-step process:
Home assessment to understand their needs and space
Project plan that matches furnishings to their lifestyle
Install Day that brings volunteers and furnishings together to transform a house room by room
Welcome Home Basket: a gift of love from the community that marks the moment of return
ARC At a Glance
42 families returned home
33 volunteer Project Managers
Every $1 donated delivers nearly $4 in value.
188 volunteers giving 5,725 hours
Over $870,000 total value delivered
Today we have 33 volunteer Project Managers in our network, and the care and creativity they bring to every project is visible in every finished room.
The furnishings that fill those rooms are made possible by the extraordinary generosity of in-kind partners. On average, 71% of a project's total value comes from donated furnishings, meaning every $1 contributed in cash delivers nearly $4 in value to a family's home. We have often said that "J-I-T"—“just in time”—has become one of our favorite phrases because the donations needed for each project would show up just when they were needed most.
And then there are the 188 volunteers who contributed 5,725 hours across Install Days and project preparation—loading trucks, assembling furniture on front porches, making beds, hanging artwork, unpacking boxes, filling cabinets—all the acts of care that turn a reconstruction project into a home. The total value delivered across all projects to date is just over $870,000, a number that reflects not just dollars but the time, talent, and love of an entire community.
What We've Witnessed
In many cases, the families we served had 6 to 8 feet of water move through their homes, destroying everything and requiring months of reconstruction before furnishings were even a possibility. Through all of it, we made a deliberate decision early on to speak of the people we serve as flood survivors, and they have lived up to that name in ways that continue to humble us. Out of every family we have had the opportunity to walk alongside, not one has seen themselves as a victim. Each has expressed gratitude, resilience, and love despite devastating circumstances.
Being there when a survivor walks through the front door of their furnished home for the first time and watching their face shift from exhaustion to relief, sometimes to tears, is the clearest reminder that all of it is worth it. As one family member shared, "This house welcomed the weary flood survivors back home… and it was the soft landing I had hoped for. It felt like the old home but fresh and new. A place to make new memories for generations to come."
Growing to Meet the Moment
This year, ARC grew significantly in team capacity, project coordination, and physical infrastructure. We now manage more than 12,000 square feet of warehouse space across three Hill Country locations, where furnishings are received, organized, and prepared for delivery to families in the pipeline. This growth happened because so many people and organizations believed in this work early and chose to invest in it.
We are grateful to them. The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country has been a foundational partner, supporting both direct project costs and the organizational capacity we need to keep pace with families in our pipeline. The Hill Country Charity Ball, the Hunt Preservation Society, local churches throughout the Hill Country, and individual donors near and far have all played a meaningful role in making this first year of projects possible. This work belongs to all of you, and we are deeply thankful.
An Invitation for Year Two
Our goal for Year Two is to help 60 to 70 more flood survivors return home. The need is real, the pipeline of families waiting is significant, and we are ready for the work ahead. We hope you will join us. Here’s how you can:
We need continued financial support.
As initial in-kind donation sources mature, the cash required per project is increasing. Every gift goes directly toward furnishing a home for a flood survivor, and every dollar is multiplied through our in-kind partnership network. All donations through The Impact Guild are tax-deductible.
We need volunteer Project Managers.
This is the role at the center of everything ARC does, and growing this pipeline is our most urgent need as we head into our second year. Whether you are an architect, interior designer, a skilled organizer with an eye for space and function, or someone who simply knows how to bring a room together, there is a family who needs what you bring. Project Managers tell us consistently that walking a family home is one of the most meaningful things they have done. We believe you'll feel that too.
Recovery of this scale truly does take all of us. We are so grateful for everyone who has said yes to being part of it, and we can't wait to welcome whoever is ready for the road ahead.
The ARC Team
Want to join the recovery? Visit the Arcadia Recovery Collaboration or email arc@theimpactguild.com and take part in the effort to help our neighbors return home.