$20 million of anti-displacement funding has been allocated to help prevent displacement due to affordability for communities near Project Connect lines
Austin Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) and the City of Austin are investing in innovative new ways to address to keep Austin communities together. Community Initiated Solutions empowers organizations nearest to the problem to reduce residential displacement and create economic mobility opportunities for their most vulnerable communities along Project Connect corridors.
Project Connect Background
Project Connect is a citywide comprehensive rapid transit system that consists of expanded light rail and bus service, new Park & Ride facilities, and new neighborhood circulators. Over the next 13 years, federal and local funds will be utilized to build Project Connect. When voters approved Project Connect in 2020, $300 million of the $7.1 billion Project Connect investment was dedicated to anti-displacement.
Community Initiated Solutions Organizations
These organizations were selected to receive funding for work to prevent the displacement of renters and homeowners and create economic mobility opportunities. As of September 2023, $16.M of services have been awarded to 12 Community Initiated Solutions organizations focused on the needs of vulnerable neighborhoods.
| Organization | Project Focus | Award Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Austin Cooperative Business Foundation Asociación de Residentes | The Asociación de Residentes North Lamar (ARNL) is a Manufactured Housing Community owned by residents as a cooperative. This program will assist with a property tax abatement strategy. | $516,206 |
| Austin Tenants Council (A project of TRLA) | The anti-displacement funding will increase tenant stabilization along the Project Connect corridor by empowering tenants to exercise their rights through mediation, advocacy, and education. | $997,310 |
| Austin Voices for Education and Youth | The North Austin/Rundberg Community Stabilization Project will provide rent assistance for short-term stabilization, social work case management to increase resource access and workforce education, community building, advocacy, and tenant rights education to increase long-term housing stability. | $1,268,000 |
| Business & Community Lenders | The Austin CLT Accelerator will grow and scale the capacity of a cohort of nonprofits to increase community land trust availability, establishing long-term affordable homeownership opportunities along Project Connect transit lines to help households stabilize their finances and avoid displacement. | $2,000,000 |
| Communities in School of Central Texas | The Student and Family Assistance (SAFA) program provides financial support to address housing insecurity, helping to stabilize students' home lives and prevent displacement. The program will integrate rental assistance into existing financial support processes and connect students and their families to financial wellness resources and events. | $1,500,000 |
| Del Valle Community Coalition | The Homeowner Resilience Program will support Southeast Austin homeowners at risk of displacement by providing community strategies and investment to preserve and build wealth responsive to homeowner needs via counseling, advocacy capacity-building, financial assistance, and educational Homeowner Resilience events. | $1,100,000 |
| El Buen Samaritano | The "We Belong Here" program will assist tenants with rent and utilities and provide economic mobility and opportunity through collaborations that provide access to early childhood, youth academic advancement, adult education, and workforce development. | $2,000,000 |
| Goodwill Industries of Central Texas | The Connections to Work program will support economic mobility within impacted areas through workforce programs providing job training and occupational skills training credentials for living-wage positions, financial capability services, and direct rent/mortgage and utility relief for eligible participants. | $2,000,000 |
| Interfaith Action of Central Texas (iACT) | The Financial Education and Literacy Program will provide financial education to vulnerable children, grades 6-12, and their families to help prepare them for a financially secure future. | $256,650 |
| Meals on Wheels Central Texas | The Client Assistance Program will provide case management and financial assistance (including rent, utilities, mortgage, financial education, and other housing expenses) to Meals on Wheels Central Texas (MOWCTX) clients who are most at-risk of displacement. | $900,000 |
| Life Anew Restorative Justice Inc. | The Anti-Displacement Property Ownership program will educate eligible homeowners on land ownership, estate planning, Zero Energy, Condo Regimes, and financial literacy. | $2,000,000 |
| Workers Defense Project & Building And Strengthening Tenant Action | Combatting Displacement Through Tenant and Worker Power will build tenant resiliency in Project Connect corridors by engaging renters in building infrastructure to combat displacement events. | $2,000,000 |
- Funding Priorities
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The funding round for 2022 included up to $20 million for nonprofit organizations and partnerships that prioritize:
Renter/tenant stabilization: Investments may include tenant legal services and representation, emergency rental assistance, education on fair housing laws and tenant rights, and other programs, services, and investments that prevent displacement by stabilizing tenants.
Expansion and preservation of homeownership opportunities: Investments may include down payment and closing cost assistance programs, mortgage assistance, foreclosure prevention assistance, HUD-approved housing counseling, home rehabilitation and repair loans, existing community land trusts and housing cooperatives, and other programs, services, and investments that prevent displacement by expanding and preserving homeownership opportunities.
Other anti-displacement strategies: Investments that support economic mobility opportunities within the impacted area of Project Connect and help prepare the affected communities survive and even thrive in crisis. Asset building strategies that facilitate access to capital, estate planning, financial capability (education and literacy), leveraging affordable housing to create good paying jobs and skill building labs, as well as other innovative models that preserve and expand the community’s assets, and strengthen it through economic mobility opportunities may be considered.Check out the April 20, 2022 Application Webinar:
- Project Eligibility
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The following factors may determine if a proposal is eligible for funding:
Priority Area
All investments must be focused within 1 mile of Project Connect stations (see map) in communities with vulnerable, active, and chronic displacement risk. Applicants must be one of the following:
- Nonprofit organizations: 501(c)3 or 501(c)4 non-profit organization and a registered vendor with the City of Austin; or
- Priority Area: All investments must be focused within 1 mile of Project Connect stations (see map) in communities with vulnerable, active, and chronic displacement risk. Applicants must be one of the following:
- Partnerships: Partnerships between nonprofit, for-profit, and community-based organizations. Partnerships must identify a lead organization responsible for coordinating the group’s activities, including fiscal administration, reporting, quality control, and deliverable management. The lead organization must be a registered vendor with the City of Austin. The application must demonstrate how each partner organization will contribute to the goals and outcomes set forth in the proposal.
Note: Partnerships must identify a lead organization responsible for coordinating the group’s activities, including fiscal administration, reporting, quality control, and deliverable management. The lead organization must be a registered vendor with the City of Austin. The application must demonstrate how each partner organization will contribute to the goals and outcomes set forth in the proposal.
Applicants must not be on the City’s debarment list. The City of Austin is prohibited from contracting with or making prime or sub-awards to parties that are suspended or debarred or whose principals are suspended or debarred from Federal, State, or City of Austin Contracts. To be considered for funding, the application must be completed and signed. Technical Assistance provided by the City is required for all vendors accepting contract awards. The selected recipient shall carry insurance for the duration of the Agreement and furnish a Certificate of Insurance, including all policy endorsements as evidence thereof to AHFC. Listed below are examples of insurance coverages the selected recipient may be required to obtain:
- Statutory Workers’ Compensation and Employers Liability (If Recipient’s employees are working on AHFC property)
- Commercial General Liability Insurance with a minimum bodily injury and property damage
- Business Automobile Liability Insurance (for all owned, non-owned and hired vehicles if the recipient uses any vehicles to perform its scope of work)
- Directors and Officers coverage
- Blanket Crime Policy
- Cyber Liability Insurance
Complete requirements, eligibility, and funding criteria are available in Notice of Funding Availability (PDF) —updated May 24, 2022—for Community Initiated Solutions.
- Organization Application Review Process
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The application review process consisted of three steps:
- Completeness Check: Applications were pre-screened by staff to ensure minimum requirements were met.
- Community Evaluation Panel: Applications were reviewed by a community evaluation panel composed of practitioners, academics, and stakeholders from communities most impacted by displacement. The panels reviewed and scored proposals using evaluation criteria informed by the Nothing About Us Without Us report and tool. The review panels provided a list of scored, ranked proposals to a working group of the Community Advisory Committee.
- Review Panel: A working group of the Community Advisory Committee will consider balances between funding categories and recommend proposals for funding to Austin Housing Finance Corporation Board for final approval.
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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The following clarification document includes a summary of questions from the public received by the Austin Housing Finance Corporation as of May 17, 2022, with relevant responses.