$8 million of rental assistance made it off the runway for Austin residents this Tuesday as the city faces soaring rents and eviction filings – the latter having risen to pre-pandemic levels following the expiration of its eviction moratorium at the end of 2021 (which was technically extended to March of 2022).
Austinites can apply for help paying rent now. Funds provided through the new I Belong in Austin program won’t be administered by the city, but by El Buen Samaritano, a multipronged nonprofit under the umbrella of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. Applications are hosted on the group’s website, and eligibility is straightforward: if you make under 80% of the Median Family Income for Austin ($65,450 for a one-person household) and live in the city of Austin’s jurisdiction, you qualify.
From there selection is random, but applicants can be on the lookout for an email each Thursday, which is when new households receive award notifications. The program’s window shuts quickly, though, ending Jan. 1 and re-opening every 90 days, at which point those who haven’t been selected will be told to reapply – only one application per household will be accepted each quarter.
The lucky individuals who do receive funding can receive up to $6,000, a number determined by recipients’ needs. Funding can be used for rent but also covers moving and storage costs for those facing eviction. Payments, notably, will not be made directly to applicants but to landlords and other vendors, making their participation requisite to receiving aid.
This is the city of Austin’s second partnership with El Buen Samaritano, the first was the creation of its pandemic-spurred rental assistance program, Relief of Emergency Needs for Tenants (RENT). El Buen Samaritano will again work alongside Texas RioGrande Legal Aid and Volunteer Legal Services to aid the nonprofit in its distribution of funds, running the gamut on improvements to existing programs, but focusing primarily on improving access to services.
This article appears in December 1 • 2023.