Community Resources

The Housing Authority of the City of Austin maintains lists of resources on many types of programs including:

• State and national housing resources
• Local housing resources
• Transitional housing
• Homebuyer and home repair
• Assistance programs
• Emergency rental and utility assistance
• Federal financial aid
• Scholarships

Do you have a resource you'd like to share? Please let us know!

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State and national housing resources

• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

• The National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials

• Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers

• Texas NAHRO: The Texas Chapter of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials

• Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs

• The Rural Renting Housing Association of Texas

• The Texas Apartment Association

• National Association of Home Builders

• Council of Large Public Housing Authorities

• The Public Housing Authority Director's Association

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Local housing resources

Austin affordable housing links

• The Enterprise Foundation: Works with partners to provide low income people with affordable housing, safer streets and access to jobs and child care.

• The Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation

• Austin Tenants Council

• Texas Housing Counselor: Helps low-income Texans find decent, affordable homes.

• Foundation Communities: An Austin, Texas, based provider of affordable housing.

Transitional housing in Austin

• Casa Marianella: Provides shelter, food, clothing and information and referrals for recently arrived immigrants.

• Community Advocates for Teens and Parents: Provides shelter and transitional housing with supportive services for pregnant and parenting adolescents. 7501 Blessing Avenue, (512) 451-0252.

• Community Partnership for the Homeless: Provides affordable single-family and duplex housing and housing referrals.

• Family Eldercare: Provides transitional housing with supportive services for elderly people.

• Foundation for the Homeless: Provides shelter for families in area churches through the Interfaith Hospitality Network.

• Front Steps: Provides information, referrals and case management; basic services include showers, lockers, phones, messaging/mail and laundry.

• Marywood: Stepping Stones Program provides transitional housing for pregnant adolescents.

• Caritas of Austin Inc.: Reentry Program provides transitional housing and supportive services for veterans and the homeless.

• Salvation Army: Provides emergency shelter for families and single adults. Workers' dorms for employed singles. Provides clothes, meals, case management, tutoring, support groups, etc. Passages Program: Transitional housing and supportive services for families.

• Texas Housing Counselor: Offers information on specific affordable housing locations based on income and number of people in household.

• Travis County Housing Authority: Provides Section 8 rental vouchers. Also offers nonsubsidized apartments and a small number of single-family homes available on the private market.

• VinCare Services of Austin (Saint Louise House): Provides apartment style transitional housing and supportive housing for homeless women with children

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Homebuyer and home repair

• Austin Housing Finance Corp.: Provides down payment assistance program for first-time homebuyers.

• Austin Interreligious Ministries: Has a hands-on housing program that rehabilitates homes for the elderly, disabled and working poor. Community Mentoring Network matches minor, nonviolent juvenile offenders with adult role models. The Refugee Resettlement program, through a relationship with Episcopal Migration Ministries and Church World Service, resettles refugees in the Austin.

• Habitat for Humanity Austin: Builds and provides permanent single-family homes to qualified, low-income families in exchange for "sweat equity" and monthly payments.

• NAACP Community Development Resource Center: Serves the black community that needs assistance when buying a home. Provides pre-purchase homebuyer education, credit counseling, default/delinquency assistance, rural homebuyer education and classes on becoming a landlord.

• Texas Home of Your Own Coalition: Provides assistance with down payments and funds to modify inaccessible housing and offers low down payments and interest. Must meet income guidelines and have a documented disability.

• Travis County Housing and Weatherization: Provides assistance with home repairs, handicap access, emergency plumbing or electrical problems and home energy efficiency. 5021 Cesar Chavez, 512-385-4036

• Apartments 911: Explains in detail what apartments and houses look for when running rental applications. Works with a lot of Housing Choice Voucher Program clients.

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Assistance programs

• Austin Resource Center for Independent Living: ARCIL provides independent living services, including housing and other referrals, to persons with disabilities, their families and communities throughout Travis and surrounding counties.
  825 E. Rundberg Lane, Suite A-1, Austin, Texas 78753.
  Phone (512) 832-6349, fax: (512) 832-1869, e-mail: arcil@arcil.com

• Austin-Travis County MHMR: For children, teens and adults. Provides 24-hour, confidential telephone counseling, crisis intervention, suicide prevention and comprehensive information and referrals to human service agencies and support groups in the Austin-Travis County area.
  1430 Collier Street
  (512) 472-4357, TTY: 512-703-1395

• Capital Area Food Bank- Food Stamp Assistance: The Capital Area Food Bank is working to remove some of the barriers associated with food stamps by providing clients with application assistance. (512) 684-2550

• Caritas of Austin Inc. Social services: provides vouchers for clothing, prescriptions, medical assistance, eyeglasses, rent/utility assistance and groceries. Call for appointment. 611 Neches Street, Austin TX.
  (512) 479-4610 (M-F)

• Christian Women's Job Corps of Austin: Equip women in need for life and employment.
  P.O. Box 500193, Austin, Texas 75750
  (512) 963-5330 (M-F)

• First Call for Help (United Way Capital Area): Offers information and referrals to community resources. Dial 211 or (512) 973-9203

• Food Stamps - Administered by Texas Department of Human Services: 1-877-556-2200

• GreatSchools.org For over a decade, GreatSchools.org has been helping parents choose the right school for their children, and support their children’s education. The site is for parents, grandparents, and caregivers looking for schools and ways to help children learn.We have it all! Videos about helping with homework. Articles about protecting against bullies. Tips on getting free tutoring from your child’s school.

• Legal Aid for the Homeless: Assistance with noncriminal civil matters including SSDI, SSI, TANF, food stamps, camping tickets, unemployment and veterans benefits.
  400 Nueces Street, Austin TX
  (512) 476-4383

• LifeWorks Shelter: Provides supportive services for homeless youth and young adults. Counseling and intake available 24 hours a day. (512) 441-6914

• Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program: CHIP offers low cost health insurance for children who do not qualify for Medicaid. (512) 324-2447 or 1-800-647-6558

• Neighborhood Center Services: Neighborhood Services operates 12 community and neighborhood based centers in Austin and Travis County and two Emergency Assistance programs. Food, shelter, clothes closets, forms assistance and tutoring are offered at most centers. Some centers provide limited medical services and WIC assistance.
  2209 Rosewood Ave., Austin, TX 78702
  (512) 322-2341

• CapCityKids (AISD) Provides advocacy services for school enrollment, tutoring, school supplies, clothing, summer camp, child care placement, referrals for medical care and other social service programs for homeless families.
  901 Neal Street, Austin, Texas 78702
  (512) 414-3690

• SafePlace Shelter, transitional housing and supportive services for people escaping domestic violence. Offers case management, counseling, child care, school for children and other support services.
  1515-A Grove Blvd., Austin, Texas 78741
  (512) 385-5181 / (512) 267-SAFE (7233)

• Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid: Provides free legal services to the residents of Southwest Texas who are unable to afford the fees of attorneys in private practice.
  4920 North IH-35, Austin, TX 78751
  (512) 374-2700

• WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) Offers short-term assistance for children under the age of 5 and pregnant and breastfeeding women. Immunizations, growth checkups, WIC-approved food vouchers, breastfeeding support, health and nutrition consultation. Sixteen sites in Austin. 1-800-942-3678

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Emergency Rental and Utility Assistance

• Travis County Emergency Assistance: (512) 854-9130
• First Call for Help (United Way Capital Area): Offers information and referrals to community resources. Dial 211 or (512) 973-9203.

Federal Financial Aid

The federal government awards millions of dollars each year in grants and loans to students. To apply for these grants and loans, you must submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. You can submit it online at www.fafsa.ed.gov or see your high school counselor for a copy.

Other Online Resources for Scholarships

• NAACP
• Dollars for Scholars
• Housing Authority Insurance Center
• Scholarships.com
• Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation

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