AUSTIN, Texas — Connie Jo Kirk has called East Austin home for 72 years. 

A historic black neighborhood that once thrived with black culture is becoming harder for Kirk to recognize. 

“I don’t like it when some neighbors come and live here for a year or two and fix up the houses and then sell it for double. That increases our taxes and that’s wrong,” Kirk said. 

While at the county tax collectors office, Kirk learned she lost an exemption that would protect her childhood home from a tax increase. Kirk says, her property taxes jumped from around $2,700 to more than $9,000. She’s citing gentrification as a problem the historic neighborhood has been fighting against for years.  

"Ridiculous. Everybody I know is suffering from it. That's gentrification to get us out. So they can put these condos and duplexes on property. They don’t care about honest people trying to hold on to their land,” Kirk said. 

While she hasn’t missed a payment in over 30 years, Kirk is unsure how she’ll be able to save her home on a fixed income, especially during a pandemic.  

She set up a fundraiser on GoFundme* in hopes that it can help save her childhood home. 

East Austin is considered one of the fast gentrified zip codes in the national according to a 2019 survey by Realtor.com.

*This Gofundme.com site is not managed by Spectrum News 1. For more information on how the site works and the rules visit  gofundme.com/safety.