$50,000 Donated for Park at Hope Hill

The Fayette County Disaster Recovery Team (FCDRT) handed the La Grange City Council a check for $50,000 at a meeting Monday. The donation will go toward development of a future park in the Hope Hill subdivision, the neighborhood built for survivors of the historic Hurricane Harvey Flood of 2017.

FCDRT formed in the wake of the flood. The organization collected donations and led recovery efforts in La Grange.

“We had more money come in and we set aside some of those last dollars in our bank account to be able to help with the Hope Hill Park,” said FCDRT Presdient Larry Jackson at the City Council meeting on Monday night, Sept. 13. The City of La Grange has applied for a matching grant from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) to develop the park land. Local landscape architect Diane Wilson designed a plan for the park.

The City will use the FCDRT donation as matching funds for the grant. After the flood of 2017, FCDRT coordinated with Menonite Disaster Services to build 11 new homes to replace some lost in the flood. FCDRT also started the Hope Hill development – a new neighborhood in La Grange built for victims of the flood. Samaritan’s Purse, the international Christian nonprofit led by Franklin Graham, initially donated $3 million toward the Hope Hill project.

“You remember that when the DRT was struggling to get all the approvals needed for the subdivision, Samaritan’s Purse came back to us and offered to take the baton and finish the race,” Jackson said. “Quite honestly, it was another miracle. Samaritan’s Purse added even more millions to build 20 brand new homes in this beautiful subdivision that’s now incorporated into the City of La Grange.”

After completing 20 homes in Hope Hill, Samaritan’s Purse gifted the remaining 30 undeveloped lots to the City of La Grange for future housing development. Samaritan’s Purse also gave the City six acres of land and a community center for a future park.

“The Bible relates a story about people who received resources – talents – and how they used them,” Jackson said. “Some buried them; others put them to work. The ending of this story says that those who use what they have been given will receive more. I want to tell you that this has been true for the Fayette County Disaster Recovery Team.”

Not everyone supported the donation. La Grange citizen Neale Rabensberg spoke during the public comment period at Monday’s meeting, before Jackson presented the donation. Rabensberg was a frequent critic of FCDRT and their plans to build the Hope Hill subdivision in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

“These funds are held within the accounts of FCDRT and were intended for the cleanup and storm victims,” Rabensberg said at the meeting.

Rabensberg often spoke at City Council meetings during the Hope Hill planning process, raising concerns about fiscal transparency, the organization’s leadership, and how the subdivision might affect surrounding neighborhoods and property values.

“The unspent grant and donated funds should be directed, in my opinion, to disaster relief rather than to a public park,” Rabensberg said Monday.

When Jackson took the podium to deliver the donation, he remarked: “It just would not have felt right if Neale hadn’t been here.”

Jackson also presented the City with a colorful book that documents the history of the flood in La Grange and the Hope Hill neighborhood. City Manager Shawn Raborn said the book will be placed in the City Library.

“Thank you for standing strong with your organization,” Raborn said to Jackson. “You were a real asset to the community. We will get the park built.”