Houston's COVID recovery is a snapshot within the big picture of our community

In July, I had the distinct honor of meeting U.S. Treasury Deputy Secretary Adewale “Wally” Adeyemo during his visit to Houston. After an engaging roundtable discussion with me and other business leaders at the Greater Houston Partnership (where I serve on the board of directors), he visited the BakerRipley Gulfton Sharpstown Campus to learn why the Houston region has been so successful in implementing COVID recovery programs. He met some of our staff and community partners who are helping hard-working families receive benefits from the Child Tax Credit and the Emergency Rental Assistance program.?

Thanks to efforts by Deputy Secretary Adeyemo and the Biden Administration, families in Houston and across the U.S. are receiving monthly checks or direct deposits in amounts up to $300 to invest in their children. Many who have fallen behind on their home rental payments are also being saved from evictions.?

Rental assistance funds from the joint fund set up earlier this year by the City of Houston and Harris County are being administered by BakerRipley and Catholic Charities with the help of our community social service agency navigators listed on the right.

Together, we are providing our neighbors help wherever and whenever they need it. We have already helped more than 36,000 households receive over $130 million. Nearly 90 percent of them are also paired with support for landlords.

The program works best if both landlords and tenants participate. Landlords who receive funds are required to stop pursuing eviction, forgive late fees, and accept partial rent payments. Thousands of landlords have auto-enrolled, and we’re still accepting new landlords. In total, almost 19,000 properties are in the system.

Some landlords, however, don’t participate -- and that’s okay. The funds can be directed to tenants to cover overdue rent back to the start of the pandemic, plus two months forward. This helps tenants get back on their feet while clearing bad marks on their rental histories.?

I applaud Deputy Secretary Adeyemo and the Biden Administration for these temporary recovery measures. Making them permanent programs will help improve the lives of our most vulnerable neighbors in Houston -- hard-working, predominantly black and brown low-income people. They are suffering disproportionately high rates of death and chronic health issues, job losses, lack of childcare, housing instability, food insecurity, and other harsh consequences due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the pandemic shift to virtual learning was very difficult for these families because of the disadvantages of the digital divide.

Short-term fixes will not be enough on their long road to recovery. Long-term resources are essential for helping these families create their own futures.?

The holistic approach to building solutions always resonates with me. It’s at the core of how BakerRipley, our public and private partners, and the people in our communities work together.?

The child tax credit, emergency rental assistance payments, and other pandemic disaster recovery resources are snapshots within a big picture. To me, the holistic community picture consists of quality pre-school learning, adult education, workforce development, entrepreneurial mentorship, and improved access to health & wellness resources. I believe it is a picture that defines and drives equity, socioeconomic mobility, and opportunity of sustainable positive outcomes for the quality of life in the communities we serve.?

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For more information about BakerRipley, click here.

For information about Emergency Rental Assistance in Houston/Harris County, visit www.HoustonHarrisHelp.org and www.unitedwayhouston.org/211.

WATCH: U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Adewale Adeyemo discusses the child tax credit on MSNBC. (7/15/2021)