Laura Jaramillo, executive director of LISC Houston, has plenty of personal experience with her hometown’s extreme weather, and the struggles Houstonians, especially those living on low incomes, face as the climate crisis cranks up those weather events. In a personal blog, Jaramillo reflects on how, in all their work, her team and their partners have incorporated a focus on helping people build resiliency—in their financial lives, in their homes, and with their communities—and why it’s imperative we act collaboratively now.
Houston, America’s fourth-largest city, is my home. I was born here. And I love this booming metropolis where diverse cultures come together. We Houstonians are rightly known for our self-reliance, coupled with a strong sense of community. In time of need, neighbors step up for one another.
That’s important, because Houston, a city of bayous and rivers that ultimately join the Gulf of Mexico just 50 miles away, is also known for violent weather events. Few American cities are more vulnerable to climate-change impacts.
At LISC Houston, climate risks are a prime consideration in everything we do, whether that’s helping participants in our Financial Opportunity Center® (FOC) network increase their net income and accrue critical “rainy day” savings, financing affordable housing that’s wind- and flood-safe, or preparing people living on low incomes to join Houston’s burgeoning green workforce.
As I write, weeks after Hurricane Beryl hit us on July 8, Houston’s yards are still littered with debris. Though we’re accustomed to storms, each brings its own challenges. In May, we saw a high-wind derecho whip through Houston with almost no warning. Beryl was forecast to strike northern Mexico, but veered north to drag its wind-driven “dirty side” over our city. Perhaps weakened by last year’s extreme heat and drought, many of our beautiful towering oaks fell or dropped branches on houses—and power lines.
A full week later, in sweltering midsummer heat, hundreds of thousands were still without power. I kept thinking about the nearly half of Houstonians who say they can’t meet a $400 emergency expense. They likely don’t own pricey home generators to kick on ACs. They can’t readily replace spoiled food or hop in the car and go stay in a hotel. With cell and WiFi service spotty in Beryl’s aftermath, it was tough even to get information about cooling centers or other help. Of the 22 Houston-area fatalities, more than half were related to heat exposure due to power outage. As storms become more frequent and intense, we can and must prevent such needless loss of life.
Houstonians are quite united in perceiving the threat climate change poses to our health and prosperity, and that’s a good thing. We are learning, adapting, fighting the climate crisis on multiple fronts. LISC’s commitment is to help ensure the solutions we come up with prioritize the many households without 400 bucks to spare.
We’ve made real progress since Hurricane Harvey struck in 2017. Then, rain fell in torrents for days, causing devastating floods across a massive region. As soon as the rain stopped, LISC Houston began gathering our grantees and borrowers for weekly meetings. Assistance organizations desperately needed to know who was doing what and to coordinate their response.
We don’t have to reinvent that wheel in 2024. Thanks to the collaborations we helped stand up in the aftermath of Harvey, Houston now has structures in place to speed recovery after disasters like Beryl. Through the Greater Houston Disaster Alliance, The United Way of Greater Houston and the Greater Houston Community Foundation now raise funds together, pool them in a dedicated fund, and efficiently disperse them to nonprofit partners working on the ground. The tech-driven nonprofit Connective, meanwhile, gears up post storm to survey needs and, in turn, share information with residents about available resources, via opt-in text messages for example.
We are moving forward in the wake of Beryl, too. As government officials and class-action plaintiffs push our major power company to improve preparedness (for example by replacing wooden utility poles with fiberglass), we at LISC Houston are working to augment the capabilities of six key partners that can help Houston’s vulnerable communities withstand disasters and bounce back more quickly.
One of these organizations lends tools, from wet vacs to sheetrock saws, to qualifying nonprofits. A couple provide comprehensive human services including housing assistance and job training. One is expert at community engagement and neighborhood economic development. Two more focus on disaster response and recovery—food assistance, muck-and-guts, home repairs, and more.
What we learn from this pilot initiative, supported by The Allstate Foundation, we’ll share with the Disaster Alliance to advance the continuous systems improvement that today is more possible—and more necessary—than ever.
But the transition to climate resiliency and a greener future isn’t just about weathering negative impacts. It holds enormous opportunities for economic development here in Houston, especially as large federal investments bring new scale and acceleration to the effort.
Some may be surprised to learn that Texas is already the number-one state for wind and solar power generation, and Houston, long a world capital of oil and gas production, is also a leader in clean and renewable energy. Last year the U.S. Department of Energy selected our city as the center of a new clean hydrogen hub expected to receive up to $1.2 billion. And the Houston area, so susceptible to climate impacts, will undoubtedly be a focus of investments by Power Forward Communities, a coalition of organizations including LISC recently awarded $2 billion from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to create more climate-safe, energy-efficient affordable housing.
All this will lower emissions and increase resiliency, of course, but it also means well-paying jobs—tens of thousands of them, including many in construction and maintenance. Low-income, underemployed, and disadvantaged Houstonians stand to benefit if we lay the groundwork for training and connecting folks. Together with our FOCs and workforce development partners, we’re tackling that now. We’ve applied for an EPA Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grant to dramatically magnify this work, and should hear very soon.
Am I concerned about the next wild weather system to come ashore near Houston? Absolutely. And so are my neighbors and colleagues all across the city. With unprecedented support from public and private investors, Houstonians are constantly innovating to stem the climate crisis and protect our communities. We have the opportunity, right now, to ensure that we’ll enjoy our beloved Gulf Coast city for many generations to come. Together, we must seize it.
About the Author
Laura Jaramillo, Executive Director, LISC Houston
As Executive Director, Laura provides market leadership and supports the team in advancing its strategic framework and programmatic initiatives focused on driving equitable and inclusive growth, and addressing health, wealth, and opportunity gaps by creating pathways for people and places to prosper.
Laura previously spent nearly two decades working for Wells Fargo, mostly recently as the Senior Vice President, Community Relations Manager in the Social Impact and Sustainability Group. Laura has a strong commitment to her community as evidenced by her extensive board service and volunteerism. In addition to sitting on LISC Houston's LAC, she currently serves on the Board of Advisors for Recipe for Success and the Holocaust Museum Houston as well as the Board of Directors for the Greater Houston Community Foundation.