At the last minute to switch and come out
here and we thought that you'd appreciate
the fact it'll keep us from talking too long.
Obviously, Judge Adalgo is here with me.
I appreciate her being here and she'll
introduce Barbara Robinson when she comes up.
Judge, I know that someone from Congresswoman
Sheila Jackson Lee's staff is here and
Congressman Al Green staff saide
appreciate it because this is federal money.
I have been asked to make sure
that we think platinum parking,
it is on the sign.
Cause on short notice, like 45 minutes ago,
they worked it out to let us come here.
Tomorrow, Commissioners Court
will take up a critical vote to
fund and implement Uplift Harri.
It is a guaranteed income pilot program
that will help families rise above poverty
and strengthen all of Harris Co.
If approved, Harris County will
join Los Angeles and Cook Count,
45 cities and other smaller cous
in a national effort.
To realize Doctor Martin Luther King's vision
for a guaranteed income program to advance
economic freedom and prosperity for all.
In the last years of Doctor King's life,
he called for a guaranteed incoe
program to end poverty and makel
this country's promise of freed,
equality and justice for everyb.
Despite our region's vast prospy
in Harris County,
we also facing rampant.
Wealth, income inequality,
decades of neglect,
inequality and discrimination
have financially destabilized
generations of Harris County families,
perpetuating poverty and created
unfair barriers to prosperity.
Nearly one in five black and Latino residents
in our region live below the poverty line,
approximately 8% of Harris County residents,
mostly Hispanic.
And Letty and African American e
in areas of persistent poverty.
Unchecked and ongoing inequality
has created an economic divide t
families can't overcome on their own.
And Harris County has an obligation to act.
The 2023 Kinder Houston Area Su,
filed in a 63% of respondents believe quote,
too little is being spent on
programs and services support.
Individuals and families
experiencing poverty.
That is why Harris County
is piloting Uplift Harris,
a program that provides an income floor,
the stable ground that families need to
rise above poverty and build a better life.
Uplift Harris will be the first guaranteed
income pilot program in a Texas County,
not a Texas city,
but in a Texas County and tomorrow's vote.
If it's approved,
will be for $20.5 million in federal funds.
ARPA funding to implement the program
later this fall through Uplift Harris
up to 1515 hundred families livg
below 200% of the federal poverty line.
To put a face on that,
those are people who make approximately
$60,000 for a family of four and
$29,000 for an individual will receive.
$500 per month for 18 months to
help with basic needs.
Guaranteed income programs are
effective tools to empower famis
and provide economic stability.
Similar programs and other citis
and counties have been shown increase
employment and incentivize peope
to work while reducing poverty,
but the benefits go even furthe.
Families report improvements to
the physical and mental health.
Being able to spend more time wh
their children and a greater see
of selfdetermination when they ,
when they're trusted with the
resources that they need to buid
a better life for themselves,
they will make the decisions
on what to do with this money
and the ability to live a good,
dignified life is at the heart
of what Doctor Martin Luther
King fought for and died for.
We think that is past time to
realize the division he glimpsed
from the mountain top.
With that,
I'm proud to turn it over to
the judge of Harris County,
Judge Lena Hidalgo.
Thank you, Commissioner.
Thank you, Director Robinson,
and to you all for braving this heat.
But I am, I am glad that we dide
press conference out here, Commissioner,
and I appreciate you and I appreciate
your staff for leading on this.
I also want to thank Congresswoman Sheila
Jackson Lee and our federal congressional
delegation who worked with the n
administration for us to receive the funds.
That we are hoping to
use for this initiative.
Harris County is one of the most
important economies in the coun,
certainly the most important
in the state of Texas.
Last year,
metro Houston added over 124,000 residents.
That makes us the second fastest
growing region in the nation.
We saw 145,000 jobs added.
We've got over 3.3 million jobs and growing.
But the reality of it Not every resident is
experiencing extraordinary economic growth.
One in six people in Harris Couy
live at or below the poverty li.
As commissioner says the yearly income of
less than 13,000 for an individual and
less than 27,000 for a family of four.
To put that in perspective,
a family must make more than $40
to afford A2 bedroom apartment
at fair market value in Texas.
Nearly one in two residents
in Harris County cannot.
Afford a $400.00 emergency this year.
That's according to a recent
Kinder Institute survey.
The level of poverty that we're seeing
in an economy as large and as rt
as ours should be a call to act.
It's not good for those who aren
the margins of homelessness and
living in poverty, and it's notd
for those with economic stabili.
Research shows that high poverty rates
weaken communities and limit alf
our access to economic prosperi.
That's why Commissioner Ellis ad
I are announcing Uplift Harris,
which is a proposed guaranteed income
program for Harris County Poverty across
the nation and in our communiti,
has proven and tractable over the years,
and although there is no silver
bullet when it comes to elimina.
Poverty.
We are seeing great promise with
these kinds of programs.
Guaranteed income programs act s
a springboard for participants o
find a way out of poverty to grr
economic mobility and housing stability.
And the data shows that.
So what is guaranteed income?
A guaranteed income program is t
a new idea we would be joining
if passed more than 82 cities ad
counties around the nation and
over 10 countries around the wod
that have similar programs.
Guaranteed income programs provide direct
cash payments in fixed amounts t
recipients can spend as they see fit.
Our program,
Uplift Harris,
would provide $500 monthly cash
payments to eligible families for 18 months,
relying on federal dollars from
the American Rescue Plan.
Payments are meant to help peope
break the cycle of poverty.
Recipients will be selected from the 10 most
impoverished zip codes throughout the county.
Which make an annual
median income of $35,000,
or based on their participation in a public
health social service program called Access,
which serves individuals in neef
services across the county ZIP codes.
The 10 most impoverished zip codes include
the following Neighborhoods, Fo,
Force Acres, E 6, Jensen Sunnys,
Northgate, Settled Guests, South Park,
Greater 5th Ward, Gulfton, Galena Park,
and Acres Homes. Within that.
It'll be a randomized process.
And all of it will be run through our
Harris County Public Health Department.
We expect to be in implementing
the program in the fall.
We're aiming for September.
The recipients would have full
discretion to spend the funds on
whatever they or their family need most.
The extra money can mean not hag
to choose between being hungry
or sitting in the dark.
It can mean a difference to a se
mother to a struggling student.
The goal is to empower recipiens
to spend the funds on what their
most pressing needs are.
We will have a local professional that
would administer the evaluationf
the program as as well as the program
itself within the public health department.
So we will be evaluating the ims
and making decisions accordingl.
Why do we want to pilot somethig
like this in Harris County?
It's because we've seen how successful
similar programs have been all around
the country and around the worl.
Here are a few examples in Gainesville,
FL and these are individuals,
but the numbers show it too.
A guaranteed income pilot allowa
recipient to interrupt the revolving door
of poverty in his life and pay it forward.
He was able to distribute care packages
to those experiencing homelessns
as he once did in Birmingham, A.
A guaranteed income program alld
a single pregnant mother with ar
year old to have funds to maintn
her small family in New Orleans.
Program helped a 23 year old
mother of two juggling motherhod
and college classes with food,
gas, money and school supplies.
Now there are folks who are going to say
guaranteed income is just another handout,
that folks who receive the
funds will squander them.
That guaranteed income discouras
people from getting a job.
But the reality is none of
those things is true.
Decades of research shows that
people spend cash benefits wise,
leading to more financial.