Woodsboro resident known for volunteering receives much-needed help of her own

Elvia Quesada received the keys to her brand new two-bedroom, two bathroom manufactured home surrounded by her family, friends and the organization who helped recovery from Hurricane Harvey.

Quesada has lived in Woodsboro for over 50 years. She and most of her community were devastated when Hurricane Harvey swept through the Coastal Bend and left so many homes severely damaged, including her own. A long-time volunteer with Eagles Nest, a local after school facility for children, and a supervisor for the area food bank, Quesada was able to stay with a family member close to home. “I just want to say thank you to everyone for helping me out,” she shared. “It’s been such a blessing to receive so much support and I am very happy to be back home.”

Quesada’s manufactured home is part of a grant received by the Coastal Bend Disaster Recovery Group (CBDRG) from the Rebuild Texas Fund. Through the grant, the organization was able to purchase 25 homes to assist homeowners who lost everything with the 2017 storm. A ramp was built by Christian Public Services and funded through a grant by WellMed. The Coastal Bend Food Bank will also stop by to deliver perishable and non-perishable food items.

This is the fifth family in Woodsboro that CBDRG and partners have been able to assist. CBDRG and partners will have replaced 50 manufactured homes at the end of today with five more to install before Christmas. Additionally, the group has completed construction on 41 rebuilt homes with six currently in production and has completed 114 major repairs with 27 underway. In 2019, volunteers have spent a total of 66,137 hours working on long-term disaster recovery projects – a value of $1.2 million dollars. CBDRG, in partnership with several other non-profits, continue to assist socially vulnerable families’ recovery from Hurricane Harvey over two years after the storm. The work is made possible thanks to the generous donors and hardworking volunteers. CBDRG continues to seek volunteers who range from skilled-laborers to general help.