16 Percent Of Travis County Residents Living In Poverty

from KXAN

Population and development are exploding in Central Texas. Unfortunately, the poverty rate isn't far behind.

Nearly 16 percent of Travis County residents live in poverty, which is classified as a family of four living on $20,000 a year.

The 16 percent figure for Travis County is higher than the national average, but lower than the overall rate for Texas.

Now city, county and nonprofit officials are working together for change. They've formed a basic needs coalition to address poverty.

The face of poverty in Austin may be your friend or neighbor. It is people like Demetra Tennison who worked for 18 years as a nurse's assistant, and now she can barely get by.

"You never know what a person faces on a day-to-day basis. It's so many different stereotypes that people need to get rid of because this is a reality. People are living in poverty," Tennison said.

According to the Federal Poverty Guideline, a family of four making $20,000 is living in poverty. That same family needs more than double that amount to live in Austin. Tennison is disabled and says living in Austin means learning to sacrifice to pay bills.

"Food wasn't as plentiful," Tennison said.

Even though you can walk Austin streets and see a slew of homeless people, poverty in the city and county is much more than that. There are people with jobs who can't afford the basic necessities.

Many of those people have children who suffer the consequences.

"Tragically, 20 percent of all children in Travis County live below the poverty line," Austin Mayor Will Wynn said.

Tennison said she knows that all too well. She has raised four children.

"You work poor. You're working, but you always have to remember to stay under a certain guideline so whatever benefit you're receiving won't get cut. It's not enough awareness out there, and there's not enough regulations that they have in place to have people to pull out of their rut without being penalized," Tennison said.

The Basic Needs Coalition is working on a plan with faith-based organizations and community advocates to see that everyone can bear the fruit of the our growing city.