Pilot to Provide Monthly Cash Support to Eligible Households Struggling with Poverty
Houston – Harris County community members facing financial hardship can apply for the Uplift Guaranteed Income Pilot Program beginning Friday, January 12, at 9:00 a.m.
The updated application period begins this Friday, January 12, and closes on Friday, February 2, at 11:59 p.m. Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis; the program is not first come, first served.
Uplift Harris is made possible by a $20.5 million grant from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The Harris County Commissioners Court approved the ARPA funding for the program on June 6, 2023.
The initiative, the fifth largest publicly funded cash assistance project in the U.S., will distribute $500 monthly to over 1,900 eligible households for 18 months. Recipients can use the monthly payments from Uplift Harris to cover essential needs, such as rent, groceries, transportation, housing, utilities, health care, and other necessities.
The program will support families living below 200% of the federal poverty line, approximately $60,000 for a family of four. Families can be selected for the program through a randomized process if they live in one of the 10 targeted high-poverty ZIP codes or participate in the ACCESS (Accessing Coordinated Care and Empowering Self Sufficiency) Harris County program.
The target ZIP codes include:
- 77026
- 77028
- 77033
- 77050
- 77051
- 77060
- 77081
- 77091
- 77093
- 77547
Eligible applicants from the target ZIP codes above will be randomly selected for the program.
For more information, including a link to the application and live updates on the program, please visit the Uplift Harris website, Uplift.HarrisCountyTX.gov.
