AUSTIN, Texas — For 40 years, Alice Salazar has lived in the Montopolis neighborhood, but she now worries about what may happen in the future.

"With all the new houses getting built, a lot of people's taxes are going up and stuff," Salazar said. "My mom, being an elderly person, is exempt but the day that she has to go or something, I would be like in that situation where I'm like 'Which way do I go?'"

Fears of Austinites getting priced out is why Austin City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes launched the Displacement Prevention Navigator Program in 2023. The program provided resources to help people stay in their homes with the help of paid workers or "Navigators," who were people recruited from the neighborhoods they served.

At first, the program focused on two neighborhoods at risk

See Full Page