AUSTIN, Texas — Nearly 22,000 households have received funding through the Texas Rent Relief Program with more than 29,000 payments “in progress.”  

As funding runs out in July and the eviction moratorium ends in August, housing advocates are feeling the rush of applicants who are desperate for help, especially the Hispanic community. Latinx Texans are not only disproportionately affected by the pandemic, but they also face barriers with accessing public funding. 

Jose Castano and his wife and daughter fled poverty and political unrest in Columbia in 2018 for a better life. 

“We decided to come back to the United States, running away from the safety concerns, safety problems,” he said.  

They ended up in Austin, Texas, where Castano spent nearly four years in construction, until an injury put him out of work in the middle of the pandemic. Like the thousands of others in Texas, he decided to apply for rental assistance, but he never finished his application. Instead he got a job helping others in his community.  

“I see it like the program. Instead of giving me like assistance for the money, they give me a job,” Castano said.  

Castano works for the Latino Healthcare Forum. The group helps Hispanic Texans and immigrants apply for rental assistance that would otherwise be difficult to access because of digital divides, language barriers and a lack of cultural competence.  

Paulina Coro Guanotasig is a single mother who lost her food service job because of COVID-19 restrictions.  

“She came running away from domestic violence from her country,” Castano said.  

In the other room, Outreach and Enrollment Specialist Hugo Diaz is busy making calls to potential applicants. He said a big part of their job is trying to convince people the program exists.  

“They don’t have the knowledge, they don’t have enough information to be able to access this,” Diaz said.  

Diaz and Castano work directly with the Housing Authority of the City of Austin. Their small operation has helped around 700 people. HACA’s RENT 3.0 program has received 9,477 applications and has accepted 4,824. Out of the applicants receiving funding, about 40% identify as Hispanic. 

HACA Vice President Pilar Sanchez said outreach programs like the Latino Healthcare Forum are important to connect communities the city cannot. 

“There are a lot of people who aren’t very trusting of government programs, so they don’t apply, but because they have come to these organizations before they trust them,” she said.

And Castano has the ability to connect with his clients because he was almost one of them.  

“I understand them, like me, we live like from check to check, so if you miss one check, if you lose those hours, that’s it,” he said.  

Sanchez said they are seeing an uptick in applicants recently, and the average rent owed from applicants coming in now is about five months. 

On June 1, the City of Austin loosened protections to allow landlords to issue notices of eviction to renters with five months back pay. According to the Texas Rent Relief Dashboard, about 24% of applicants are Hispanic. Nearly 54% of applicants are below 30% of the average median income.