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Outreach Eligibility

Eligibility Criteria for Thursday Outreach to Persons in Need Program
- Service Area
  We serve City of Austin residents living at an Austin address. We can also help anyone with their Austin Energy/City of Austin bill, regardless of their address.
  
  If you live in any of the following zip codes: 78703, 78705, 78722, 78751, 78756, call the St. Austin St. Vincent de Paul Society (SVDP) for assistance at 512-477-1589. Leave a message and they will call you back. Outreach does not serve these zip codes.
  
  Services Provided
  We can help people who live in the City of Austin with a little bit of rent OR a utility bill, such as water, electricity, or gas (1 bill). We can also help anyone with their Austin Energy/City of Austin bill. Although we have offered other services in the past, we are currently limited to rent and utilities assistance for the foreseeable future. We refer appplicants to additional rent and utility services as well as other services that may be helpful or are requested.
  
  We do NOT help with:
  
  rent or utility deposits
  
  hotel or motel bills
  
  internet or cell phone bills
  
  finding or securing housing
  
  We do NOT make assistance checks out to individuals, including landlords or the person requesting assistance. Landlords/apartment complexes must accept a check that is mailed directly from the program. We are unable to make electronic payments or provide rental assistance via money order or cashier's check.
  
  Application Process
  
  To be considered for help with your rent OR utility bill, you must text or email the following information to gethelp@staustin.org (or ayuda@staustin.org for Spanish-speakers):
  
  Your phone number
  
  Your ID
  
  For Rent: Your lease in your name OR For Utility Assistance: Your utility bill in your name (1 bill). You must indicate which you would like us to assist with.
  
  This information is also accepted via mail, although email is preferred. Please note that Outreach has no control over when mail arrives and that mailed applications cannot be processed until they are received. Mailed applications must include a phone number.
  
  Reapplying for Assistance
  
  If you have been helped by St. Austin Outreach in the past, we can help with a little bit of rent OR 1 utility bill if you have not been helped in the past 6 months AND you are chosen in our lottery. Assistance is determined by household, so if your spouse/partner, roommate, or another adult who lives with you has received assistance from us in the past 6 months, you/they are not eligible for assistance until the 6 months have passed. The only exceptions are sober living facilities or housing arrangements where residents have separate leases.

Outreach Eligibility

We do NOT help with:

rent or utility deposits

hotel or motel bills

internet or cell phone bills

finding or securing housing

Application Process

To be considered for help with your rent OR utility bill, you must text or email the following information to gethelp@staustin.org (or ayuda@staustin.org for Spanish-speakers):

Your phone number

Your ID

For Rent: Your lease in your name OR For Utility Assistance: Your utility bill in your name (1 bill). You must indicate which you would like us to assist with.

This information is also accepted via mail, although email is preferred. Please note that Outreach has no control over when mail arrives and that mailed applications cannot be processed until they are received. Mailed applications must include a phone number. Reapplying for Assistance

This information is also accepted via mail, although email is preferred. Please note that Outreach has no control over when mail arrives and that mailed applications cannot be processed until they are received. Mailed applications must include a phone number.

Reapplying for Assistance