Since the beginning of Recognizing the Stranger (RTS), West/Southwest IAF organizations have worked with local and state governments to better secure housing for low-income individuals and families, including immigrants -- documented and undocumented. Prior to the pandemic, this meant primarily working with tenant leaders to address predatory landlords and abusive practices. But when the pandemic suddenly eliminated thousands of construction and service industry jobs, West/Southwest IAF organizations quickly pivoted to protecting families from evictions through strategies including moratoriums, rent freezes and direct rental assistance.
One such case was in Brazoria County, south of Houston, where Carmen Trejo of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church exemplified the hidden talent in many immigrant communities.
Because she had already participated in RTS training with her pastor, Fr. John Taosan, Carmen (in photo at right) knew what to do when the long-term nature of the pandemic became clear. Together, they launched a virtual listening campaign among parishioners -- connecting to them by phone and in smaller groups on Zoom. At first, Carmen heard stories of the digital divide: with computers and wifi capacity missing from many homes, children were not keeping up with online classes. Fr. John and immigrant leaders worked with the Superintendent of Alvin ISD to secure resources for their children to better participate in school.
Then Carmen and Fr. John began to hear stories of discrimination against immigrants and the naked prioritization of money over human life. Abrupt firings and ruthless cuts to hours led many into economic desperation. The church initially raised $17,000 in a “Parishioners Helping Parishioners” initiative, but those funds quickly ran out. Through TMO, leaders connected with Catholic Charities who provided $30,000 to keep dozens of undocumented families from eviction. While grateful, Carmen and Fr. John suspected that would not be enough. They reached out to neighboring parishes, Sacred Heart of Jesus and Our Lady of the Sea, and learned they, too, were facing similar challenges.
With the support of TMO, Carmen, Fr. John and other parish leaders engaged the Brazoria County judge, where they learned that the County was considering returning $11.3 Million in federal funds because of insufficient demand for rental assistance! County officials had launched an online application portal that required an email address, the uploading of scanned documents, detailed documentation of decreased income and a social security number. These requirements presented tangible barriers to parishioners lacking access to social security numbers and easy access to scanners and wifi. The realization that Brazoria elected officials would rather return money than make the application process more suitable to the realities of low-income immigrants galvanized the team.
Carmen and the team openly challenged these requirements and educated officials and staff about the implications of these requirements on low-income families. They reached an agreement with Catholic Charities to assist with applications and then negotiated with the County about dropping the social security number requirement. By the end of the negotiation, the County actively consulted with Carmen and her team of immigrant leaders to ensure that the application was not excessively onerous. Carmen learned that she, with her parish, can change systems.
Across the West/Southwest IAF network, leaders like Carmen Trejo helped leverage more than $385 Million in local rental assistance dollars -- in many cases negotiating to include taxpaying immigrants as beneficiaries of that aid, regardless of their legal status.
Press Coverage of Pandemic Rental Assistance, West/Southwest IAF
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