The multi-group effort has led to one RV park on the verge of donating a leasing-office-turned home to a family who lost everything in the chaos.
KERRVILLE, Texas — In the aftermath of the devastating floods that tore through the Hill Country on July Fourth, leaving families without homes and communities reeling, one nonprofit out of Weatherford is stepping in to help, one RV at a time.
Operation Texas Strong, led by longtime disaster relief worker Bobby Crutsinger, is on a mission to provide mobile housing to those who lost everything.
“It truly breaks my heart,” Crutsinger said. “I have kids, so I know it would be devastating for me.”
Crutsinger said he’s been involved in disaster relief for over a decade, and through Operation Texas Strong, he’s spent the last six years giving away RVs to people in need, including veterans.
Lately, Crutsinger noted the nonprofit has been getting inundated with requests for RVs and homes in light of the floods.
“We have families reaching out to us that need homes. We give away RVs. We’ve been doing this for over six years but I’ve been doing disasters for 12 years,” Crutsinger said.
The nonprofit is receiving support from throughout Texas and across the country.
“We have one (RV) that was donated yesterday from Arizona. The family is taking it down tomorrow. They’re going to be arriving down here to give it to a family all the way from Arizona. Then we have a little one that’s being donated from San Antonio to help a single person,” Crutsinger said.
It’s a communitywide effort made possible by local partners, like Robin Oliveros, who serves as general manager of Kerrville RV Park and Cabins. She’s coordinating with Operation Texas Strong to offer up an old leasing office, currently being used for storage, for a family displaced by the floods. The building is 1,500 square feet and ready to be transported.
“This was once a leasing office. It’s never been a home,” Oliveros said. “It’s just ready for someone to come in and remove it professionally and give it to someone in need.”
Oliveros, like many Hill Country residents, has seen the flood’s toll up close.
“I know a lot of people who were affected,” she added.
Comfort after chaos has captured the spirit behind Operation Texas Strong.
On Saturday at 1 p.m., they’ll be set up in the Gibson’s Discount Center parking lot in Kerrville, distributing donated supplies and handing over RVs to flood survivors.
To learn how you can help and donate RVs, go to Operation Texas Strong’s Facebook page.