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As communities across the Texas Hill Country clean up after another round of destructive flooding, San Antonio-based nonprofit LiftFund is offering grants of up to $10,000 to affected small businesses and nonprofits.
The program covers 16 counties: Bandera, Blanco, Burnet, Comal, Edwards, Gillespie, Hays, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Llano, Mason, Medina, Menard, Real and Uvalde.
The funding can be used for rebuilding and repairs, damaged equipment and operating expenses while businesses work to reopen.
Many were still recovering from last year’s historic floods when rising water swept through the region again this month, dealing another financial blow to communities that depend on locally owned businesses.
“Our hearts are with the Texas small businesses that are facing yet another tragic disaster,” said Amy Hereford, president and CEO of LiftFund. “When disasters strike, they need trusted partners who can respond in a matter of days to sustain the business and its employees. Our team is prepared to help business owners stabilize, recover, and continue serving the communities that depend on them.”
Eligible applicants must have been operating on or before July 1, 2025, and must demonstrate economic losses caused by the July flooding.
Adrian Gonzalez, who leads LiftFund’s work in the Kerrville area, said the nonprofit decided to launch another grant program after seeing firsthand how last year’s assistance helped businesses survive.
“We determined the need again to open up a grant program, and a lot of businesses saw the benefit to that no-cost money,” Gonzalez said.
In addition to grants distributed after last year’s floods, LiftFund provided zero-interest, no-closing-cost recovery loans to help businesses whose rebuilding expenses exceeded available grant funding.
Gonzalez said getting financial assistance into the hands of business owners quickly can mean the difference between reopening and permanently closing.
“Most small businesses don’t have two weeks’ worth of cash reserves on hand,” he said. “So, if you don’t get cash in their hands very quickly, there’s a very strong probability that they may not make it through the disaster.”
The economic damage extends beyond buildings that flooded, Hereford said. She said communities often experience a sharp decline in consumer spending while residents recover and tourists postpone visits, creating additional challenges for businesses that escaped significant physical damage.
“Your internal town consumers, their disposable income is likely to be capsized for a moment while they deal with this, and then your external visitors will pause,” Hereford said. “And we know this from doing over 50 disasters over 30 years at this point.”
While surveying damage across the region, Hereford said she saw the widespread effects of the flooding on critical community services.
“I just came from a nursing home. They are having to evacuate some of their residents,” she said. “Some of their residents have no family members they could go to just yet, and so the nursing home is scrambling to try to find what can they do with them.”
She also described damage at an animal shelter in Uvalde.
“This animal shelter was already full to capacity because they are dealing with the screwworm problem at the same time in this community, which means their animals were quarantined to have to stay here,” Hereford said. “So, I understand that their facility was damaged, and so they may need to transport [the animals] to another facility.”
Several businesses at Kerrville’s Town Creek Village were damaged when floodwaters entered multiple buildings.
Owner Harold Buell said water reached about a foot deep inside some of the structures.
“This has never happened before,” Buell said. “Last Fourth of July we had the highest it’s ever been, but this year it got into the buildings, you know, as much as a foot. Then there’s all the obvious damage.”
One of the hardest-hit tenants was Fitness First Sports, a locally owned sporting goods store operated by Dale and Brooke Guthrie. The business, which is preparing for the busy back-to-school shopping season, sustained significant damage to flooring, walls, sheetrock, air-conditioning systems and merchandise. The shopping center also includes Hill Country Bicycle Works and a coffee kiosk in the parking lot.
“The longer we’re shut down, the worse it is,” Buell said. “Because it’s coming up on back to school, which is our best season of the year.”
LiftFund has deployed more than 525 grants and loans totaling more than $17 million to Hill Country businesses during the past year. The nonprofit has spent more than three decades helping entrepreneurs recover from disasters, including hurricanes, wildfires, floods and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Every small business that reopens strengthens its community,” Hereford said. “When entrepreneurs can recover, employees return to work, families regain stability, and local economies begin moving forward again.”
Applications for the 2026 Texas Hill Country Flood Relief Program are now open.
Buell said recovering from another flood will not be easy, but he remains optimistic.
“You have your ups and downs in life,” he said. “You just have to growl at it and try to work your way back up.”
