$7.27M approved for affordable housing dedicated to homeless survivors of domestic, sexual violence

Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday approved a multi-million dollar contract with the SAFE Alliance to help fund an affordable housing project.

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday approved a multi-million dollar contract with the SAFE Alliance to help fund an affordable housing project.

The nearly $7.3 million contract will help fund The Lancaster development project, a housing project that will provide 60 units of affordable housing for people experiencing homelessness who are survivors of domestic and sexual violence, according to a release from the Commissioners Court.

“The creation of deeply affordable rental housing for homeless survivors of family violence, sexual violence, and/or trafficking, and their children, makes recovery from violence possible,” said Julia Spann, CEO of the SAFE Alliance, in the release. “Without a safe place to call home, unhoused people, including victims of abuse, are left with few choices for themselves and their families. Without housing, survivors are forced back into dangerous situations. Housing is violence prevention. The SAFE Alliance is grateful to Travis County for funding SAFE to construct a critically needed 60-unit apartment community, The Lancaster.”

The court said the money comes from the $110 million the Commissioners Court previously allocated to addressing homelessness in the community, funded through the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (LFRF) Travis County received from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

A list of other projects funded by the $110 million is available online.