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Less than $1M in RENT assistance distributed so far from $12.9M city of Austin program

A rental relief program from the city of Austin has so far helped more than 750 residents access nearly $900,000 to cover rental costs for up to three months.
The city introduced a new dashboard Wednesday that showcases how much rental relief money has been distributed since late August when the program debuted. The Relief of Emergency Needs for Tenants, or RENT, program aims to provide rental aid to low-income residents who have been impacted by COVID-19.
But that's only a fraction of the $12.9 million allocated for rental relief efforts. As of Thursday morning, 776 recipients out of 2,600 applicants have received $897,698 in approved rental assistance. That means only 29.8% of applicants have qualified for rental assistance.
The typical household received $1,095 toward monthly rent, according to the dashboard, which also breaks down recipients per ZIP code, industry, ace/ethnicity, as well as household size and income.
Approved applicants have their rental money distributed directly to their landlord. Also, only those making between 0% and 30% of Austin's median family income qualify for rental assistance all three months. Anyone making between 30% to 80% of the median family income only qualify for one month of relief.
To better promote the RENT program, the city has partnered with nonprofit organizations to assist renters in the application process. The city announced Wednesday it spent $400,000 to partner with these community organizations, which focus outreach efforts on the following factors:
Low-income residents in ZIP codes with high COVID-19 rates
- Black and Latinx
- Large households or families with children
- People with disabilities
- Veterans
- People with limited English proficiency
According to the city, recipients are selected randomly from the pool of qualified applicants. Such drawings occur "periodically over the comings months" or until the $12.9 million relief fund dries up.
"All applications, regardless of when they are submitted, will be given equal chance in the selection process," the city's website states.
Qualifications also balance household size with income, as applicants cannot make more than 80% of the city's median family income. Want to know if you qualify? Follow this basic breakdown to see if your household income is lower than the maximum threshold:
- I person=$54,700
- 2 people=$62,500
- 3 people=$70,300
- 4 people=$78,100
- 5 people=$84,350
- 6 people=$90,600
Also, be ready to show evidence that COVID-19 has created financial hardships, such as paystubs and unemployment notices.
For more information about the relief program and eviction information, visit the RENT assistance homepage.
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(Paxton Smith/Instagram)
Paxton Smith’s 2021 valedictory speech at Lake Highlands High School in Dallas wasn’t the same speech she had previously shared with school administrators. She dropped the approved speech and made a case for women’s reproductive rights after lawmakers passed the Texas "Heartbeat Bill.”
Her advocacy made news on NPR, YouTubeTV and in The Guardian. Just over a year later, the “war on (women’s) rights” she forewarned has come to a head as the U.S. Supreme Court voted Friday morning to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending constitutional protection for abortion access.
“It is up to the people to show up and show the courts and the politicians that we won’t sit back and let this happen,” Smith told Austonia Friday morning. “We will show up, we will fight back. Before, we were scared of them, now they should be scared of us.”
Now a University of Texas sophomore and abortion rights activist, 19-year-old Smith said she wanted to give the same speech in the “the most public way possible” to reach “as many people as possible who don't agree that I deserve this right.”
However, she says the response was “actually overwhelmingly positive” and supportive of her cause. According to a recent UT poll, 78% of Texas voters support abortion access in most cases.
The speech opened up further opportunities for activism: she advocated for reproductive rights at the International Forum on Human Rights in Geneva, interviewed with Variety magazine and spoke to tens of thousands at Austin’s Bans Off Our Bodies protest at the Texas Capitol in May.
Smith also serves on the board of directors for the Women’s Reproductive Rights Assistance Project, a national nonprofit organization that helps fund abortions or medication abortion—like Plan C pills—in all 50 states. Most recently, Smith has been attending protests in Washington, D.C. leading up to the ruling.
“This is land of the free. This is where you get to choose how you live your life,” Smith said. “Overturning Roe v. Wade violates everything that we have come to believe about what it means to live in this country. I think a lot of people aren't willing to accept that this is a human right that is most likely just going to be gone for over half of the country within the next couple of weeks.”
Bracing for the next steps, Smith gave some tips for supporters:
- Find a protest to attend.
- “I would say invite somebody to go to those protests with you, invite a couple of friends, invite people into the movement,” Smith said.
- Talk about the issue on social media—use the platform you have.
- “Have these kinds of conversations where people can just talk about their fears and then find ways to go and advocate for yourself,” Smith said.
- Volunteer at a nonprofit near you.
“I feel like a lot of the reason things have gotten as bad as they have within the abortion rights world is that people are not making a scene, not protesting, not putting the effort into ensuring that the government doesn't take away this right,” Smith said. “I want to emphasize that if you're not doing anything, don't expect the best scenario, expect the worst because that's the direction that we're going in.”
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(Council Member Chito Vela/Twitter)
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that guaranteed a constitutional right to an abortion, Friday morning. Moments later, Austin City Council set a special meeting for next month to pass a resolution aimed at decriminalizing abortion.
The GRACE Act, which stands for guarding the right to abortion care for everyone, is a twofold plan submitted by council member Jose “Chito” Vela. It recommends that city funds shouldn’t be used to surveil, catalog, report or investigate abortions. It also recommends that police make investigating abortion their lowest priority.
Council Member Vanessa Fuentes, who co-sponsored the resolution along with council members Paige Ellis, Kathie Tovo and Mayor Steve Adler, said the importance of the GRACE Act cannot be overstated.
“By introducing this resolution during a special session, City Council is doubling down on fighting back for reproductive health,” Fuentes said. “Items like the GRACE Act will promote essential healthcare while enabling individuals to exercise their bodily freedom.”
The act takes an approach similar to when former council member Greg Casar moved to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. Ultimately, state law doesn't allow city officials to order police chiefs to adopt specific enforcement policies so the resolution would be a request to Police Chief Joe Chacon. In May, Politico reported that Vela is having "ongoing conversations" with Chacon about the proposal.
Austonia contacted Attorney General Ken Paxton for comment on the GRACE Act but did not hear back by time of publication. On Friday, Paxton celebrated the overturning of Roe and announced an annual office holiday on June 24 in recognition of the high court's decision.
In a press release, Vela said the Texas state government has a history of overturning municipal protections of human rights. Thirty days after the Supreme Court’s ruling, Texas will ban all abortions, with exceptions only to save the life of a pregnant patient or prevent “substantial impairment of major bodily function.”
Still, Vela expressed hope for the GRACE Act’s longevity. Council’s special meeting on it is set for the week of July 18.
“We know this resolution is legally sound, and Austin is not alone in this fight,” Vela said. “We are working with several other cities who are equally horrified by the prospect of an abortion ban and want to do everything they can to protect their residents.”
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