Faith Statement: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Business Facts

National: In 1995, one in five people (20%) in the United States had difficulty satisfying basic needs. This means that nationally 49 million people lived in households in which members didn¹t make mortgage/rent payments, failed to pay utility bills and/or had service shut off, didn¹t get enough to eat, diddn¹t access needed medical.dental care, or otherwise could not meet essential expenses. (While medical/dental is not included in this definition of basic needs, it is part of this Census Bureau analysis and retained in this context). This number exceeds the national poverty rate, which at the same time was less than 15% (U.S. Census Bureau, 1999).

State: Texas statistics also reflect this condition. In spite of continued economic growth at both the national and State levels, the poverty rate in Texas remains high (16.7% in the mid 1990s). Even more telling, nearly one quarter (24.2%) of children in Texas were poor at that time. Further compounding this situation, the majority of poor families were working. More than 80% of poor Texas families with children in which parents were able-bodied included at least one worker. Nearly 40% of these working parents worked full time.

Local: while Travis county has experienced a prolonged period of tremendous economic growth, poverty continues to have a significant impact on our community.

• According to Census Bureaus estimates released in 1999, 12.9% OF Travis County population lived at or below the poverty level in 1995. While this compares favorably to the state (18.5%) and national (13.8%) rates, it still means that 87,1777 people in Travis County live below the poverty level. The poverty guideline is defined as $16, 700/year for a family of four.
• TDHS reports that 2,612 households received Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) benefits in February 1999 (Welfare to Work Coalition, 1999).
• TDHS also reported 10,214 households received food stamps in February 1999 (Welfare to Work Coalition, 1999).
• In 1998 WIC served an average of 14,092 women and children per month
• Local service providers estimate that there are 3,850 homeless in our community on any given day (41% single adults, 46% families with children, 13% "street" youth).

Homelessness: For most people, an accumulation of various factors leads to homelessness. Individuals living independently in the community can become homeless when any part of their support network fails and then an event changes their lives dramatically. For some people, homelessness is simply the result of not earning enough money to be able to afford housing. For others, homelessness is a chronic life situation fueled by substance abuse or untreated mental illness. Approximately 3,977 people are homeless in Travis County on any given day. Of these, 33% are single and adult men, 17% are single adult women, 43% families, and 7% are unaccompanied youth (Austin/Travis County 2001 Annual Survey of Homeless Service Providers, March 2001). These numbers reflect estimated counts of homeless persons receiving homeless services and those that are turned away from services because of lack of capacity. It does not include the "hidden" homeless such as people who are living doubled-up with family members or friends. Austin lacks enough shelters for the homeless, forcing many to live in their cars or on the streets until space becomes available.

Working Poor: Complicating the struggle of low-income families to meet their basic needs in our community is the steady increase in the cost of living, particularly housing. One measure that has traditionally been used to gauge prosperity in a community is unemployment. With a June 1999 unemployment estimate of 2.6% (compared to 4.7% statewide), Travis County is clearly thriving. However, this number can be misleading. It does not reflect people who are working, but are still not self-sufficient: employed at low wage levels, working multiple low wage jobs, or employed at low wage levels, working multiple low wage jobs, or employed part time. It is often the case that individuals work but still require basic needs assistance. As noted above, 80% of poor children in Texas are in families in which at least one parent works. TDHS estimates that there are up to 200,000 working poor in Travis county (defined as living at or below 200% of the federal poverty income guideline).

Ex-incarcerated: There are over 2 million American citizens incarcerated in this country. Currently, most prisons are at over 175% occupancy rate. The number of females under the jurisdiction of State or Federal prison authorities has increased significantly. Many non-violent offenders (drug and property offenders) end up serving similar sentences as violent offenders. Many of the incarcerated, upon release, turn to many people for help but are often discriminated especially in the areas of securing housing and employment. Additionally, having a sense of "isolation", special needs are not being met in the re-adjustment back into society. Often, the person searching for help finds himself or herself just as lost as if they were back inside the prison walls. Research shows that an incarcerated individual who receives education, has a job and high self-esteem through acceptance from society will be less likely to return to prison after release thus reducing the high rates of recidivism. Crime in Travis county has consistently decreased in the last several years. This pattern is present for all types of crimes. Despite this improvement , spending on incarceration and the justice system is on the rise. While prevention and intervention are more successful and cost-effective methods for addressing criminal behavior than is incarceration, emphasis continues to be put on being "tough on crime" with little emphasis on addressing root causes of criminal behavior and long-term impacts on victims. In addition, there is a general lack of services for adult offenders released into the community from incarceration and even then, risk factors for crime are not always addressed holistically. Adult releases are especially in need of employment and housing assistance.

Substance Abuse: Substance abuse in Travis County is a critical public health problem that affects the young and the elderly, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, and professional and blue-collar workers. Science has shown that drug abuse is a preventable behavior and drug addiction is a treatable disease. Drug use is voluntary behavior, but drug addiction is not‹addiction is a compulsive, uncontrollable drug-seeking and drug-use act. Alcohol, cocaine and heroin can all lead to addiction. For those who are recovering addicts, there are additional complicating factors which face them such as: employment opportunities; difficulty qualifying for housing with prior drug conviction; lack of sufficient transitional and permanent housing for offenders with substance abuse and dependence histories.

The Abundant Life Network, a non-denominational, Christ-centered, community-based, non-profit organization, seeks to ameliorate the above mentioned inequities by providing a free, safe shelter where the socially disadvantaged individuals can focus on healing their broken spirits and on how to cultivate life and employment skills that will enable them to transition successfully back into our society.

Faith Statement: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)