In the middle of trial, I got an email with some great news from my friend at Texas Organizing Project, Ginny Goldman. A big chunk of federal Hurricane Ike Recovery money is coming to Houston homeowners! Texas Organizing Project (TOP) is a member based organization that focuses on organizing their own neighborhoods and investing their time and energy in causes relevant to the communities they live in. TOP has been fighting for their members to receive a fair portion of the hundreds of millions in federal Hurricane Ike Recovery funds that have come into Houston over the last two years.

Hurricane victims are near and dear to my heart as we have spent years fighting insurance companies for our clients who suffered from hurricane damage, but weren’t paid fairly. TOP has been fighting for their Houston members who did not have homeowners insurance. We battle with the insurance companies while TOP battles with red tape. They have been working tirelessly over the past year to get all of the government agencies involved to agree to help. Today, there was a significant victory for homeowners in Houston and I want to take a minute to applaud Mayor Annise Parker for standing up and doing the right thing for TOP, its members and their neighborhoods. Thank you, Houston!

Mayor Annise Parker, prompted by last-minute lobbying by neighborhood activists, has agreed to reverse course and give most of a second round of Hurricane Ike housing money to repair single-family homes rather than apartments.

In the first round of money the city received in federal funding, apartment owners got $60 million of the $81 million and the second round had originally been slated to get $62 million of the city’s $94.5 million.

Single family homes are the backbone of our communities and we are thrilled that Mayor Parker has committed to “rolling up her sleeves” and join the fight for home-owners.

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