Dallas FHLB provides funds to assist with Harvey relief efforts

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is providing $6.7 million in grants along with $1 billion in additional advances to its members as part of its Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.

The largest of those grants, $4.5 million, is to help members' employees with their housing recovery efforts.

Small businesses received $2 million to help with recovery efforts and $225,000 is for community-based organizations involved in the recovery.

The Dallas FHLB also made $1 billion in low-cost loans, also known as advances, available to its members to support their customers in the affected areas.

"As an FHLB Dallas director in Louisiana, I have seen first-hand the horrific impact of hurricane- and flood-related disasters such as this one," Joseph F. Quinlan Jr., its chairman, said in a press release.

"Hurricane Harvey has taken a devastating toll on the people, businesses, economies and communities in southeast Texas. The recovery will be long and challenging, and every bit of help we can give will be critical to the stabilization of the economy and the rebuilding process."

Quinlan is the chairman, president and CEO of First National Bankers Bancshares Inc. in Baton Rouge, La.

Along with the grants, the Dallas FHLB is donating $100,000 to the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund through the Texas Bankers Foundation. It is making a $150,000 donation for disaster relief supplies and it will give $25,000 to the Gregory-Portland Independent School District to help with furniture, materials and supplies. Gregory-Portland is one of the districts accepting students from other areas where families have been displaced because of the storm.

"We have several member institutions with offices in the FEMA-declared disaster areas in southeast Texas. As our members, their families and friends deal with this calamitous event, in a small way we want to help with the recovery efforts," Sanjay K. Bhasin, the Dallas FHLB's President and CEO, said in a press release. "Internally, our employees are collecting clothing, toiletries and other supplies, as well as making donations to several charities helping with the recovery. We will be providing a two-to-one match of their monetary donations."

The Dallas FHLB, along with other FHLBs, will also make a total of $1 million in donations to charitable groups such as the American Red Cross, Americares, Direct Relief, United Way of Greater Houston, Houston Food Bank, Food Bank of Corpus Christi and the Coastal Bend Community Foundation.