HOUSTON – Isidoro Gonzalez’s walls are frozen in time from the day Hurricane Harvey flooded his home.
“We had to take this much off because it got wet,” he explained, showing where he had to remove sheetrock because of floodwaters.
Not much has changed inside since Harvey. No repairs have been made. There isn’t any electricity or heat, yet Gonzalez still lives in his home which is located in the Sagemont neighborhood of southeast Houston.
He’s waiting for a rebuild, a project that’s taken years for approval.
“It’s been about four years since I first started applying for all this,” he said, referring to the home rebuild project through the Texas General Land Office. The GLO has approved Isidoro’s rebuild. The project also has a builder and a tentative design. Still, Isidorosaid another hurdle has proven tough to jump.
“Here recently, they’ve been wanting the homeowner’s neighborhood committee to be approving their build and they just won’t do it,” Isidoro said.
He’s talking about the Sagemont Civic Committee, which signs off on building plans in the neighborhood. Isidoro’s relationship with that body turned sour when he says he inquired about their approval after waiting.
“I was asking, ‘Well, what do I need to do? Do I need to get an attorney?’” Isidoro said.
He said the civic committee stopped communicating with him after he made the comment about the attorney. While Isidoro said he doesn’t have an attorney, it doesn’t seem the civic committee is aware of that.
“There’s been a lot of back-and-forth,” said Daniel Gonzalez, Isidoro’s son.
Daniel has been part of the process of helping his father. He said doing so has included trying to meet building requirements set by the committee.
Daniel said he’s tried to get his father to live with him, but he won’t. He won’t leave his home.
“There’s still hope. I still see hope there,” Isidoro said.