A guaranteed income program was a lifeline for me. Now more Texans can benefit

Iam an Austinite. My family was one of the first to settle in Clarksville, a historic Black settlement. My great aunt's house is a landmark.

My family always believed in hard work, and back in 2021, I was working myself so hard that I went to the hospital with dangerously high blood pressure.

They told me, "Ma'am, you cannot work the way that you are, you're going to kill yourself." But I can't afford not to work. We'll fall behind on our bills, we'll lose our house. And even though I make "too much" to qualify for benefits, I'm barely making ends meet.

Things changed when I enrolled in the Central Texas 12-Month Fund. UpTogether and philanthropic partners gave $1,000 a month for one year to 173 households in Austin and Georgetown starting in March of 2021. The city of Austin used the