The 60-unit housing development will support nearly 250 adults and children fleeing domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and human trafficking.
AUSTIN, Texas — One million dollars in federal funding is coming to Austin to help domestic violence survivors find a safe place to live.
Congressman Greg Casar presented Travis County and the SAFE Alliance with a $1 million check in southeast Austin on Wednesday morning.
The $28 million 60-unit housing development called The Sasha will house families experiencing homelessness due to domestic violence. It will support nearly 250 adults and children fleeing domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and human trafficking.
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Casar said investments like these help keep people who may be consistently experiencing homelessness find a safe roof over their heads.
“We’ve seen from permanent supportive housing and supportive housing projects like this that we have seen arrests drop, in some cases more than 70%, once we make sure that people have a safe place to live, a safe place to go,” Casar said.
The Sasha is also expected to provide counseling, legal assistance, children’s services and more.
“We often hear survivors ask, ‘Why didn’t you leave?'” SAFE Alliance CEO Pierre Berastaín said. “That question assumes there was somewhere safe for them to go.”
Berastaín said the extra federal funding will allow improvements to the development, including security upgrades.
A survivor of domestic violence who was once homeless said this will be life changing for other survivors.
“For a long time, survival meant making it through one more night, one more threat, one more day without knowing what would happen next,” said Makani Couk. “It meant carrying fear in my body while still trying to parent, find food, diapers and a way forward.”
Casar said federal funding for this project passed with bipartisan support.
Around $16.7 million in funding for the project is through the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, while $8.5 million comes from the Austin Housing Finance Corporation and $2 million from the Federal Home Loan Bank.
Families could move in as soon as next year.