Desmond’s “Poverty, By America” – Book Review
Matthew Desmond’s new book, Poverty, By America, takes a hard look at prevalence of poverty in the richest country in the history of the world. As a writer on inequality and a pastor who works alongside low-income individuals and families, I enthusiastically recommend the book. You might not agree with all of what Desmond writes […]
ACL Rent Assistance Program Fundraiser
Rent assistance is a sure-fire strategy in the prevention of homelessness. During the past three years of the Covid pandemic, numerous city, county and federal rent-assistance funding streams have helped individuals and families maintain a roof over their heads. Many of these streams have now dried up, even as rents and grocery prices rise. Austin […]
ACL’s Move-In Ministry Testimonial
ACL’s Rent Assistance Program Testimonial
ACL Move-In Ministry
“This is so wonderful,” Norma exclaimed with a wide smile. “It feels like Christmas.” Norma and her two teenage boys have been living with various family members, in their vehicle, at cheap hotels, and unsheltered in encampments for the better part of the past three years. By any definition, they’ve been homeless. On this mid-January […]
ACL’s 2023 SUMMIT MEETING
Sunday, February 26 at St. Martin’s Lutheran Church Plan to join ACL leaders as ministries alongside low-income individuals and families expand. We’ll continue to do “more, better, together” with food pantry distributions, rent assistance, early childhood development access, move-in ministries and other homelessness prevention services. Mark your calendars for this in-person meeting: Sunday, February 26, […]
2023 PIT Count
Combatting Homelessness ACL plans to participate in the “Point in Time” count of unhoused people in Austin and Travis County on the evening of Friday, January 27. St. Martin’s Lutheran Church will host the hundreds of volunteers who will go out in teams that evening to count and to bring care packages to the unhoused. […]
ACL’s Fall 2022 Newsletter
AUSTIN CITY LUTHERANS “More, Better, Together” since 2011! Ministries Serving Low-Income Neighbors – Fall 2022 GREETINGS IN CHRIST’S NAME FROM ACL! We are the ELCA congregations in and around the Texas capital city—and that includes you. Since its inception in 2011, ACL has sought ways to fellowship and minister in Austin following the simple moniker […]
ACL’s Rent Assistance Program – 2022
Thanks to a generous grant of $40,000 through the Austin Community Foundation, ACL carried out its second rent assistance program at Bread For All Food Pantry A young Hispanic woman showed up at a Bread For All distribution with an eviction notice in hand from the SE Austin apartment complex where she had lived for […]
Preventing Homelessness in Austin in the Midst of Rampant Inequality
As of February 2022, part of Austin City Lutherans’ mission is to combat and prevent homelessness. John Rockefeller, the Gilded Age oil business titan, became the first billionaire more than 100 years ago around the time of WWI. He was asked at that time, “How much is enough?” He replied, “Just a little bit more.” […]