This fundraiser is organized by friends and allies of Sandra Edwards to keep her in her family home.

Sandra Edwards is a tireless fighter for Fifth Ward, a neighborhood burdened with industrial contamination, predatory development, and too many neighbors lost to cancer. For years, she has been on the frontlines demanding accountability for the elevated cancer rates in the area, giving over a hundred media interviews, organizing her neighbors block by block, and refusing to let agencies or corporations escape responsibility.

Today, she is at risk of losing her family home: facing more than $6,000 in back property taxes. We are raising $6,500 immediately to prevent a tax lien and foreclosure.

While she never fails to show up for her neighborhood, her own home has been hit by one climate disaster after another: sustaining major damage during Harvey, burst pipes during Winter Storm Uri, and wind damage from Beryl, to name a few.

Sandra has completed countless disaster recovery applications. Yet due to stalled disaster recovery funds, mounting property tax debt, and permitting restrictions in the EPA testing area that derailed her GLO process - she has yet to fully recover from 2017’s Hurricane Harvey.

Now she is facing another threat: over $6,000 in back property taxes, putting her at risk of a tax lien and foreclosure on the home that has been in her family for generations - a home that has hosted community meetings, press conferences, and where her great-grandson still plays.

This is not charity.

This is solidarity.

Sandra has given thousands of unpaid hours to protect this neighborhood. If you have ever asked Sandra to speak, show up, or stand up for this community - this is the moment to show up for her.

Our goal is to raise $6,500 immediately to cover back taxes and prevent a tax lien or foreclosure. Every dollar goes directly toward securing her home and keeping this organizing anchor in the community.

Let’s make sure Sandra can stay in her family home, in the neighborhood she continues to fight for every day.

About Sandra Edwards

Sandra Edwards was born and raised in Houston’s Fifth Ward, growing up next to the Union Pacific rail yards. She returned home in 2009 to care for her father after he was diagnosed with cancer, and what began as an act of caring for a parent grew into a broader fight for her community as she learned how many neighbors had also fallen ill amid decades of disinvestment. Today, Sandra is a community leader and the Founder of Impact Fifth Ward Justice, working toward environmental and social justice in Houston. She has collaborated with the Houston Health Department on lead cleanup efforts and with researchers at Texas A&M to map heavy metals and other toxins in Fifth Ward soil. She serves as President of the Fifth Ward Civic Club, sits on the Community Advisory Group for the EPA’s Houston Wood Preserving Works site, and works as a Climate Ambassador with the Coalition for Environment, Equity, and Resilience, helping neighbors connect to disaster assistance and home resilience resources.