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Outreach to Persons in Need
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July-September 2022 Outreach Report:Assisting in the Face of Great Need
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Through the generosity of many charitable benefactors, the dedicated Outreach volunteer team was able to serve 185 total households with rent or utility assistance in July, August, and September of 2022. 56 households received help with their utility bill through our Austin Energy Plus 1 Funds grant. 106 households received rental assistance and another 23 households received utility assistance through donated funds.
Thirteen Outreach guests this quarter were served in-person at St. Austin’s Ministry Center. We will continue to offer in-person assistance appointments as often as possible to guests who live near St. Austin, and we are looking at ways to expand so that we can assist more people at our Ministry Center.
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Our Rental Assistance Eased the Pain of Rising Rent Costs and Inflation
Clarissa’s rent went from $880 to almost $1200 overnight. She left a job to make more money to cover the extra cost of rent. The new job scammed her by giving her a check to cover job-related expenses. Once she deposited it, her bank closed her account because the check was fraudulent. When we spoke with her, she was looking for work but was understandably wary of job offers. Our assistance just about covered the extra amount she pays in rent each month.
Matt is on disability. With the rising costs of everything, he struggles to pay his bills, even though he is lucky enough to live in affordable housing . Our rental assistance eased some of the financial pressures that inflation has put on him.
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As the long, hot summer turned to fall, our Outreach to Persons in Need ministry noticed a sizeable uptick in the number of requests we received. In the previous quarter, we averaged 50 new requests per week from area residents who were eligible* for assistance from Outreach. This quarter we averaged almost 67! We know the need for help in our community is immense.
*To be eligible, applicants must live in Travis County or have a City of Austin Utility bill and not have been served by Outreach in the past 6 months. Applicants who live in 78703, 78705, 78722, 78751, or 78756 are served by St. Austin's SVdP - not by our parish Outreach ministry.
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Our Volunteers Connected Guests with Additional Resources
Monique lost her job shortly before having her baby several weeks prematurely. We talked to her when her partner was waiting to receive his first paycheck from a new job. Our rental assistance helped bridge the gap, and she was grateful for the resources we shared with her, including how Gabriel Project can support her with her new baby.
Pilar’s husband is the only one in the family with health insurance. Pilar and one of her kids have chronic medical conditions and are working on securing sustainable medical care. She hasn’t been able to work since she got COVID a little while ago, and the family needed help paying their utility bill. While we were only able to cover about half of their large bill, our assistance interview helped educate Pilar on what options and resources are available to her to help pay down her bill in the future.
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Many Outreach volunteers took time in July, August, and September to travel, so we helped slightly fewer guests with more assistance per household. We increased the amount we gave for Austin Energy assistance through our grant to between $250 and $400. We also increased the amount of rent and utility assistance from donated funds to $275 in July and then to $300 in August and September. We are grateful we had the funds to do so since our guests often came to us in dire straits.
The guests served by our Outreach ministry appreciate the generous donations from parishioners. Thank you!
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Our Outreach Ministry Helped Stabilize Families
Amanda is a single mom with two kids. She just started a new job and is using our rental assistance to get by until her first paycheck arrives.
Leticia suffers from depression and wasn’t able to work for several months. She recently secured a stable, good paying job that allowed her to get caught up on her rent. Leticia’s utilities had snowballed so big that she needed some assistance paying down her past-due balance. Leticia can pay her bills now, and our support is helping her regain financial stability.
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