PHNTX Receives $10,000 from North Texas Cares Grant for Emergency Housing and Rent Assistance

Published: 03-25-2021 | 1 MIN READ | Author: Prism Health North Texas

Prism Health North Texas (PHNTX) is proud to announce they have been awarded $10,000 for emergency housing and rent assistance efforts as part of the second round of funding of the North Texas Cares Grant through the Communities Foundation of North Texas. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have been felt by thousands of North Texans, especially by those already living in poverty and with existing health conditions, two groups often served by PHNTX.

While the Temporary Halt in Residential Evictions to Prevent the Further Spread of COVID-19 by the Centers for Disease Control broadly protects renters whose livelihoods have been impacted by COVID-19, many Texans are still at risk of losing safe, stable housing as the state has not released specific moratorium measures for Texas renters.

“Many of our patients are frontline workers and were already struggling to make ends meet before the pandemic. The layoffs, dismissals, and/or reduction of hours resulted in the inability to pay rent and other household expenses for many in our community,” Fernie Sanchez, Case Manager Supervisor at PHNTX said. “Though our patients are not being evicted, many are accumulating three or four months of past due rent, which becomes very difficult to catch up and could lead to them being evicted once the moratorium is lifted. We step in to assist financially and sometimes legally to make sure this does not happen.”

Per an issued news release, the North Texas Cares funding collaborative awarded 1,400 grants totaling over $40 million to 630 area nonprofits between April and mid-July of 2020. The program’s success prompted a second phase of funding aimed at providing more grants to organizations providing services and immediate aid to North
Texans.

“The funding provided by North Texas Cares will be used to provide rental assistance to our patients and also to assist previously homeless patients with emergency housing in situations where placement in stable housing is imminent and the patient is waiting for the move in process to be completed,” Sanchez added. “Housing has always been a major issue for many of our patients, and in our line of work, nothing is more important than patients having stable housing as it can make the difference between treatment failure and treatment success.”

Prism Health North Texas headshot

Author: Prism Health North Texas

Related Articles: