AUSTIN (KXAN) — The application portal for the city of Austin’s “I Belong in Austin” emergency rental assistance program opens up once again Wednesday, Jan. 1 at 8 a.m. and will run through Jan. 7 at 5 p.m.
The program provides up to $6,000 per household in rental help for people facing eviction. El Buen Samaritano helps the city run the program.
Here’s what you need to know.
How to get help
The portal opens from the first through the seventh of every month. If you’ve applied previously and not heard back, you’re asked to keep applying every month.
Households at 80% median family income (MFI) and below qualify, but the program prioritizes those most in need, specifically people below 50% MFI — which is roughly $44,000 a year for one person.
Nefertitti Jackmon, a community displacement officer with the city’s housing department, said they’ve actually seen most applicants at or below 30% MFI, which is closer to $26,500 a year or less than $40,000 a year for a family of four. The program also prioritizes people facing eviction.
For more details on qualifications and to apply, check out the city of Austin’s Emergency Rental Assistance website here.
The background
Several months after Austin City Council voted to approve emergency rental assistance as part of the city’s budget — continuing work that was previously done using federal money — the city’s “I Belong in Austin” program has already helped dozens of Austinites.
During the first month, November, the city distributed roughly $260,000 in rental assistance to people on the brink of eviction, Jackmon said.
Jackmon estimates they’ll distribute roughly that much monthly for a year. The Housing Department is allotted $3.6 million in the Fiscal Year 2024-25 budget.
“Our desire is to go further upstream in helping people to prevent homelessness,” Jackmon said. “So if we go upstream and help stabilize households with rent assistance, this is found to be a useful strategy to address that need and to provide stability for households.”
‘You saved my life’
For at least one of the people involved, it’s been a whole lot more than that. The city shared the following feedback from a recipient of the program with KXAN:
“I want to share what you did. I am bipolar and went without my meds for two weeks. I planned my end if I got evicted. My cats mean everything to me, and I am friends with the head of a rescue who promised me they would be home together. I had a plan for them. I was going really dark…I called so many places, one after another, no return calls, then you called. My electricity was shut off on Tuesday, when you responded with the dollar amount, which in a million years I could not have imagined, I legitimately emailed the staff to make sure I wasn’t crazy. I have been crying tears of joy all day. This weight that felt like 10 million pounds is gone. It’s hard being a single woman with no family. You saved my life.”
“We don’t often get the stories, but when we do, it is heartwarming, and it’s good to know that we are able to do some good for some families in Austin,” Jackmon said.
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