Mike Trolinger and Brenda Espinoza are closer to having their home rebuilt, thanks to local volunteers and a dedicated builder.
INGRAM, Texas — After losing nearly everything in the devastating Hill Country floods, Mike Trolinger and Brenda Espinoza weren’t sure they had it in them to rebuild. But with the help of local volunteers and a determined builder, the couple is now one step closer to returning home—without paying a dime.
In the early morning hours of July 4, the couple received a life-saving call from a neighbor.
“Michael, the river’s coming up,” Trolinger recalled.
Within minutes, floodwaters surged through their home in Ingram. It was pitch black, and the only light came from lightning—and, inexplicably, a crystal cube with a photo of Trolinger and his late son that began to glow.
“Every time it flashed, I started seeing water coming through the floorboards,” he said.
The couple barely escaped. Trolinger opened the back door and was immediately hit with a wall of water. By the time they made it to higher ground, their trucks were gone and water had nearly reached the ceiling.
“I could hear the house cracking and getting hit by a bunch of stuff. [Mike] immediately went to first responder mode, went out the door and saved two ladies,” Espinoza recalled. “Praises to God because we’re both still here and we have each other.”
The couple lost heirlooms, decades of family photos, and plaques from Trolinger’s time on the force. The property has been in his family for more than 100 years. He and Espinoza moved there in 2021 to help care for his aging parents who live up the hill.
The 2024 flood wasn’t the first time Trolinger had witnessed devastation like this. As a brand-new deputy for the Kerr County Sheriffs Office in 1987, he responded to another deadly Hill Country flood—just three days into his patrol career.
“I ended up having to go down there and spent the next few days searching for the victims,” he said. “I ended up finding several of those kids.”
Still, the weight of the loss nearly made them walk away.
“We were like, do we rebuild? Do we move somewhere else?” Trolinger said. “We decided yes—we’re going to save our home.”
That hope grew when family and volunteers showed up to help clean out their flood-ravaged home—leaving debris, furniture, and their memories piled along the highway.
“It was hard for me when people came up and said, ‘What can I do to help you?’” Trolinger said. “They all gave us hope that we could come back.”
One of those people was Katy Culver, owner of Kerrville Design Build.
Culver was connected to the couple through a local designer in Ingram and immediately stepped in to help. She estimates it will take between $160,000 to $180,000 to complete Mike and Brenda’s rebuild, but not a penny of that will come from the couple — she hopes.
“With this house in particular, this is the one we are starting on,” Culver said. “We had vendors of ours, subcontractors stepping in, asking how they could help.”
Donated materials—like sheetrock, insulation, plumbing fixtures, and even a new foundation—have come from as far away as Minnesota. Monetary and material donations are now being raised through a GoFundMe and on KerrvilleDesignBuild.com. All funds go directly toward paying local tradesmen and for any needed materials.
“Some of our subcontractors have lost everything as well. Some have lost family members. Keeping these tradesmen paid is very important to us,” Culver said.
She and her team of volunteers are focused on cutting through red tape to get families home faster.
“Anything I can do to get the word out there to get this home finished—then the next one, then the next one, then the next one—I’ll do whatever it takes,” she said. “That’s our calling: to get people home.”
Culver says Mike and Brenda’s home is the first of four rebuilds her team has taken on.
“This is what I’m supposed to be doing right now,” Culver added. “It pulls on your heart strings. I’ve been in a place where I needed help—and people showed up for me.”
For Mike and Brenda, Culver has been a blessing.
“Our goal is to help her get these donations in so we can get back into our home,” Espinoza said, “Enough so she can go on to the next family, the next family and the next family. We want to pay it forward.”
Construction on the Espinoza home begins Wednesday.
To contribute or learn more, visit www.KerrvilleDesignBuild.com or donate directly to their GoFundMe page.
