[Translated excerpt below]

"It's a good start", said Josephine López Paul, organizer with Dallas Area Interfaith, a nonprofit organization that helped create the County housing assistance program.

"It's a down payment towards a major issue in our county."

Ian Mattingly, president-elect of the Apartment Association of Greater Dallas, noted industry analyst estimates that 15% of county renters will not be able to pay rent this month.

[Photo Credit: Ashley Landis, Dallas Al Día]

Dallas County Will Launch Housing, Business Assistance Programs With $10 Million in Federal Money, Dallas Morning News

Dallas: Condado Aprueba $10 Millones Para Apoyar Vivienda y Pequeños Negocios, Dallas Al Día

After DAI organized judicatory leaders and clergy from every major religion in Dallas, and the Apartment Association of Greater Dallas, to testify in support of short-term supports for low-income renters and homeowners, the City of Dallas authorized about $13.7 million for short-term rental and mortgage assistance programs.  $6 million will be dedicated to direct income support for Dallas residents left out of the CARES Act and another $1.5 Million will be entrusted to nonprofits to distribute.  

Speakers who testified in support of this local aid package included Bishop Edward Burns and Auxiliary Bishop Gregory Kelly of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas, Bishop Michael McKee of the North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church, Bishop Erik KJ Gronberg of the Northern Texas - Northern Louisiana Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and Rabbi Kimberly Herzog-Cohen of Temple Emanu-El.  

Funding will come directly from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and other federal funding the city has available and will be targeted at households making 80% or below of the area median income and are left out of the federal stimulus CARES Act.  DAI leaders argued that with 50,000 renters in danger of not being able to pay the rent, that a large local aid package would be essential.

50,000 Familias en Riesgo de Desalojo Por No Pagar La Renta, Al Dia Dallas  

Immigrant Workers Face Economic Uncertainty During Covid-19 Shutdown, America Magazine

Personas Indocumentadas Sí Podrán Acceder a Fondo de Ayuda Para Renta, Dallas Al Día

Dallas County Will Launch Housing, Business Assistance Programs With $10 Million in Federal Money, Dallas Morning News

Press Conference Calling on City Council, Dallas Area Interfaith, [video]

City Council Discussion on Aid to Immigrants, City of Dallas [video]

A Dios Le Pido..., Revista Católica [en español]

[Excerpt]

On a recent Saturday, the priest passed out bags of eggs, beans, rice, tomatoes and chicken and sprinted like a grocery store clerk to families waiting in a long line of vehicles at San Juan Diego Catholic Church. Catholic Charities of Dallas had set up a mobile food pantry in the church parking lot. The charity has more than doubled food deliveries since the virus hit North Texas and left so many unemployed or with reduced work.

The following day at the downtown Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Padre Jesus joined auxiliary Bishop Greg Kelly in celebrating Easter Mass in Spanish by video. Padre Jesus delivered a special message about a pause on evictions and said if anyone was threatened, they should call the nonprofit Dallas Area Interfaith, a group both priests work with.

If anyone has symptoms of the coronavirus, the priest said, they should go to a testing site. “Don’t have fear in going to these centers,” he said in a message slipped in before the final Alleluia of the Mass.

Wednesday, in English, Padre Jesus testified, by video, before the Dallas City Council in favor of getting emergency funds to help immigrants who aren’t eligible for federal relief funds because someone in the household is undocumented.

“We must direct funds to help the most vulnerable in our city,” Padre Jesus said....

[Photo Credit: Ashley Landis, Dallas Morning News]

Catholic Priest Tends to Most Vulnerable in Pandemic: the Uninsured and Enemployed Dallas Morning News [pdf]

[Excerpts]

“It’s a special time with everything that’s happening because of the pandemic, but we have to think of our homes as having converted into our church where the word of God reaches us through the TV and social media,” said Jesus Belmontes, the priest of the San Juan Diego Catholic Parish in Dallas.

....

Belmontes, the Dallas priest, helped organize a drive-thru food distribution with Dallas Area Interfaith the day before Easter and looks forward to seeing some of his church community through car windows. He’ll spend Sunday mostly alone, streaming from an altar where he’d usually lead thousands of congregants for mass...

[Photo Credit: Vernon Bryant, Dallas Morning News]

How Dallas Religious Leaders Are Keeping the Faith Despite Coronavirus-Induced Social Distancing, Dallas Morning News

Limited Seating and Pajama Bottoms: How Texas Churches are Preparing for a Socially Distant Easter, Texas Tribune

[Excerpt]

While health and government officials work to manage the outbreak, families are struggling to pay bills and buy groceries.

Josephine Lopez Paul, the lead organizer for the Dallas Area Interfaith, a coalition of nonprofits and religious organizations that advocates for low-income families, said local, state and federal policymakers need to spend this month thinking about how to reshape the economy.

Lopez Paul said she hopes officials find a way to mitigate debt families may build as they continue to stay unable to work.

“This is going to be a depression,” she said. “This is the fastest economic decline we’ve seen in modern history. We’re not going to flip a switch one day and everyone go back to work. Some folks are never going to be able to recover from this.”

[Photo Credit: Smiley N. Pool, Dallas Morning News]

April Will Be a Make-or-Break Month for North Texas in Coronavirus Fight, Dallas Morning News [pdf]

After the Covid-19 pandemic precipitated an economic crisis of historic proportions, the Industrial Areas Foundation launched a campaign calling on Congress to provide direct monthly aid for the duration of the crisis to American workers -- regardless of their citizenship.

While the recently passed $2.2 Trillion emergency stimulus will provide adults a one-time $1,200 check, it is set to leave out undocumented immigrants -- including those who pay taxes using a Tax Identification Number.  IAF organizations across the West / Southwest IAF working with immigrant communities lay out the implications of this decision below:    

[Excerpts below]

Health care is a concern to both undocumented immigrants and legal residents....  Last August, the Trump administration tightened restrictions on legal immigrants who receive government benefits, referred to as 'public charges.' The new policy denies green cards to many immigrants who use Medicaid, food stamps and other benefits.

Immigrants in the Dallas area mask their symptoms so they can continue to work, according to Josephine López Paul, lead organizer with Dallas Area Interfaith.

“We’ve seen our service industries obliterated,” said Ms. López Paul. “Immigrants are being hit the hardest right now and there’s no safety net for them.”

....

When undocumented immigrants do approach hospitals, they quickly turn away if they see any law enforcement present, according to Ana Chavarin, lead organizer of Pima County Interfaith in Tucson, Ariz. Families are less afraid of the virus itself and more concerned with how they would pay for a long-term hospital visit, she said.

Ms. Chavarin has met with families who, not knowing how long the pandemic will last or when they will find work again, have begun rationing food. “Because they are undocumented, they cannot apply for any kind of help,” she said. Some have U.S. citizen children and could apply for benefits on their behalf, she said. But fear of deportation keeps many from doing so.

....

Food is the number one concern for pastors in Houston, according to Elizabeth Valdez, lead organizer for The Metropolitan Organization. Some parishes and congregations have started to purchase gift cards for food while others are collecting items for the church pantry. Local chapters of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul are gathering items, but since they often count on elderly volunteers, it has been a challenge.

Children cut off from school presents another challenge for low-income families. “The kids being home, [families] don’t always have the technology they need to keep up with school,” Ms. Valdez said.

....

“There has to be a way to get the money into the hands of service workers,” said Joe Rubio, director of the West/Southwest Industrial Area Foundation, a community organizing network. Pastors are seeing an increase in domestic violence, he said, likely stemming from frustration, economic pressure and children being home from school. Studies have found that immigrant survivors of domestic violence are unlikely to report abuse to law enforcement. Isolation and behavioral health issues have the potential to lead to an increase in suicide rates, he said.

“This could profoundly change the nature of parishes and congregations,” Mr. Rubio said, referring not only to the economic impact of the coronavirus but also how communities respond to those in need during the crisis. “We have to think about how we compensate those making the biggest sacrifices and how we ramp up the economy once it’s over.”

[Photo Credit: John Locher, AP Photo]

Stimulus Does Little to Stifle Covid-19 Fears in the Undocumented Community, America [pdf]

Parish identification cards, an IAF immigration strategy developed in collaboration with the Catholic Diocese of Dallas, are now accepted at Dallas County Covid-19 mobile testing units.  

[Photo Credit: Smiley N. Pool, Dallas Morning News]

Coronavirus: Condado de Dallas Responde a Preguntas Frecuentes Sobre 'Quédate en Casa' y Covid-19, Al Día Dallas [pdf]

Prior to and in the Texas Public Utilities Commission (PUC) meeting, Dallas Area Interfaith and Texas IAF clergy called on the PUC to create assistance programs and halt cutoffs for customers impacted by the economic and health impacts of the COVID-19 crisis.   At the meeting the PUC voted to create the “COVID-19 Electricity Relief Program” providing financial assistance and halting service disconnections for low-income and unemployed customers in deregulated markets such as Dallas, Houston, and Round Rock  

PUC Chair DeAnn T. Walker recognized the work of the Texas IAF organizations in advocating for families across the state. 

6 million Texans live in the areas impact by the measures enacted by PUC.  Texas IAF leaders plan to work with PUC to extend and potentially expand these protections and assistance programs as long as the COVID-19 crisis continues.

Texas Regulators Vote to Ban Residential Utility Shut-Offs During Pandemic While Buoying Companies, Texas Tribune [pdf] 

Statement by Rev. Miles Brandon, St. Julian of Norwich Episcopal Church, Central TX Interfaith

Statement by Bryan Lopez, Assumption Catholic Church in Houston, TMO

Texas IAF Letter to the Public Utilities Commission 

[Excerpt below:]

Dallas Area Interfaith, a broad coalition of church-based groups, canceled a March 28 public health fair after providers began pulling out. The interfaith group held a series of well-attended fairs last year that drew a good amount of immigrant families.

“These are the people who are the most vulnerable,” said Socorro Perales, an organizer with the interfaith group. “This is critical.”

[Photo Credit: Juan Figueroa, Dallas Morning News]

Nonprofits Weigh Staying Open or Closing, Dallas Morning News [pdf]

[Excerpt]

Britt and a handful of other church leaders founded Dallas Area Interfaith, with a focus on grass-roots issues such as community policing, educational equity and fair housing policies. The organization also trained and empowered ordinary folks — stay-at-home moms, day laborers and blue-collar workers — to take concerns to government officials.

When a Dallas City Council member tagged Britt and his fellow pastors as belligerent and militant, he acknowledged, “We’re not your father’s civic group.”

Britt and his interfaith co-founders secured council funding for housing in South Dallas and after-school programs at elementary campuses. Britt also led a jobs creation and training initiative that he took with him to CitySquare.

This poverty-fighting champion quietly left his longtime Dallas job. What’s next for Gerald Britt?, Dallas Morning News [pdf]