With 9 out of 10 apartment owners turning away Section 8 voucher users, single mothers like Evita Cruz have few options about where to live.  This affects what school her daughter attends, how far she travels for work and how safe she feels in her neighborhood.  During Holy Week, Austin Interfaith clergy and lay leadership stood up for people like Evita to demand that the council advance a resolution that would prohibit discrimination based on Section 8 vouchers.  Council responded with a 6-0 vote, directing the City Manager to draft language for a formal policy proposal.  In photo, Evita Cruz tells her story.  More photos here. 

Council Approves Voucher Ordinance, KVUE-ABC 

Council Passes Resolution to End Housing Discrimination, KXAN

Council Could Ban Landlords from Section 8 Discrimination, Time Warner Cable News

Council: Getting a Round Tuit, Austin Chronicle

Policy Austin City Council Says Landlords Can't Discriminate Against Housing Voucher-Holders, Austin American Statesman

Reverend John Elford's Remarks

“Representatives from Austin Interfaith and the local business community founded Capital IDEA in 1998, and Steven Jackobs has been heading the organization ever since. Under his direction, the group has helped support, train and find careers for hundreds of Central Texas workers and their families.  Capital IDEA – the IDEA stands for Investing in Development and Employment of Adults – works closely with unemployed or underemployed workers to identify a viable and fruitful career path. It’s a rigorous process that’s designed to ensure that workers are committed to the training and completing it….”

Capital IDEA Leads Clients to Career Path, Austin American Statesman

“This is an opportunity to create good jobs for our families,” said Kurt Cadena-Mitchell, with Austin Interfaith, a coalition of churches, schools and local governments that is an advocate for jobs paying a living wage, among other issues....

The new jobs are believed to be part of the company’s plans to hire more technical workers and engineers to support its expanding business. The average annual wage for the new jobs is $65,000, and the lowest-paid 10 percent will make about $40,000, according to the county."

Travis Commissioners Discuss Incentives for National Instruments, Austin American Statesman

October 6, 2011

On the morning of October 6th, Austin City Council passed the Public Health and Human Service budget and two other items that moved additional funding to Capital Idea, keeping the program at 2011 level funding ($1.08 million) for FY 2012. Over the last year leaders attended public hearings and council meetings to challenge the City's no-lobbying ordinance and eventually met face-to-face meetings with council members to secure this funding as well as the expansion of funding for other programs.

This past month Travis County Commissioners Court voted not only for the continuation of level funding ($700,000) for Capital Idea it also added another $97,000 to help supplement cuts from the state.