DAI Leverages $10 Million in County Coronavirus Relief for Housing Assistance and Small Business Aid
[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
DAI Leverages $13.7 Million In Local Housing Relief, Presses for More in Face of Overwhelming Demand
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]
DAI Grills D6 Candidates on Issues Days Before Election
In District 6, where only 800 votes were cast in the previous election, DAI leaders organized a nonpartisan accountability assembly in which 300 local residents grilled city council candidates on issues they have been working over the last year, including affordable housing, early education, an upcoming city bond and improvements to the 311 system.
The assembly was the largest attended forum in District 6, in the heart of Bachman Lake where last year's housing code work started, and where large-scale evictions occurred only 48 hours after their groundbreaking rewrite of the city's rental housing code. Leaders not only demanded long-term housing solutions in West Dallas, parents of children attending Lumin Education are fighting for a zoning change to preserve a Montessori school in this impoverished region.
Charter or Dallas ISD: Dispute Over School's Expansion Divides West Dallas Neighborhood, Dallas Morning News
West Dallas Council Candidates Turn Affordable Housing Crisis into Weapon Against the Incumbent, Dallas Morning News
