08/13/2021
We did it!
Tonight, the Austin City Council officially adopted our Commission's College Food Insecurity Grant Program, at the rate of $50,000 ongoing beginning in FY21-22. This marks the first recommendation of our commission to be passed by the Council, no small feat after over a year and a half of hard work. We could not have gotten this done without the support and help of many in our community, including Councilmember Kathie Tovo, student organizers who spoke up in favor of our recommendation, and the support of other boards and commissions who answered our call when we presented this recommendation to them. Now begins the real work of getting these dollars out and into the hands of organizations on campus to start implementing their ideas to reduce insecurity among their communities.
The urgency of this recommendation could not be made more apparent except by the rise in the delta variant and in the aftermath of a winter storm which left many college students without power and easy access to food. Moreover, as students return to campus, we understand that the need we saw before the pandemic is no less than before, calling on us to work with anyone who is willing on this issue. We can't wait to get back in session to start discussing where we go from here and working with our administrative community partners.
