Investing in Economic Stability to Improve Community Health Outcomes

We All Benefit Funding Opportunity: $41 million
Permanent Supportive Housing: $6 million
Basic Needs Support in Rural Counties: $700,000

Today, roughly one in three of our Central Texas neighbors does not earn enough to meet their basic needs. Economic stability has a profound impact on health and life expectancy, shaping whether families can afford essentials such as food, health care, transportation, and housing. For our neighbors facing economic instability, public benefits can provide a vital safety net and path to greater economic stability. According to the Urban Institute, if all eligible Texans utilized available safety net programs, poverty would be reduced by 40%. 

We All Benefit: Building Economic Stability

Given the power of public benefits to improve economic stability, St. David’s Foundation is committed to maximizing access to benefits for those facing the greatest barriers. In March, the Foundation launched We All Benefit 2.0: Building Economic Stability, a funding opportunity investing in local, community-informed organizations delivering essential economic stability services, including income supports, food security, and healthcare access to Central Texas communities with the greatest health needs. The Foundation received 169 letters of intent and invited 80 of those submissions to complete a full application.

St. David’s Foundation is awarding $41 million to 39 Central Texas organizations. While the Foundation initially anticipated awarding up to $35 million, the significant need in our community and high quality of the applications led us to increase the total investment to $41 million. These grants are intended to strengthen non-profit organizations with the expertise and trusted community relationships needed to help people enroll in, understand, and effectively access available benefits to improve their financial stability. Through this investment, we also hope to strengthen the local ecosystem by encouraging greater coordination and collaboration across service providers. Collectively, over the three-year funding period, these grants are expected to connect more than 60,000 people to programs that increase income and improve access to healthcare and food.

“Too often, the systems designed to support people during times of financial hardship are the very systems that can be hardest to navigate,” said Dr. Edward Burger, President & CEO, St. David’s Foundation. “These grants invest in trusted community organizations that are breaking down barriers, connecting people to critical resources, and helping ensure our safety net works with greater dignity, accessibility, and impact for all.”

The We All Benefit 2.0: Building Economic Stability funding opportunity is intended to foster economic stability for Central Texans living with low-income or who have been historically marginalized. The funded projects were selected based on the organizations’ expertise with the public benefits systems, deep connections to historically marginalized communities, and ability to offer culturally responsive services tailored to local needs. These organizations focus on populations who face challenges in securing the public benefits for which they are eligible, due to systemic exclusion, fear, language and cultural differences, complex eligibility criteria, administrative burdens, or limited access to technology. Through robust, tailored support, these grantees work to remove obstacles to benefits enrollment and help individuals and families achieve greater economic stability.

“Public benefits are a powerful multiplier, said Kim McPherson, St. David’s Foundation Senior Program Officer. “Closing the enrollment gap is one of the most practical and impactful ways to help our neighbors access the resources they are already eligible for and give them more solid footing on which to achieve economic stability.”

Grant recipients of the We All Benefit funding opportunity:

More details on the We All Benefit 2.0: Building Economic Stability open call, including a data snapshot and a full list of grantees, are available here. 

Bridge Funding for Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH)

Austin has prioritized growing the supply of PSH units in recent years as a proven strategy to provide stability and health to individuals with complex needs by offering housing plus services to help residents enroll in available benefits. However, due to public funding shifts, some new PSH properties are slated to open in 2026 and 2027 without identified service funding for care coordination, case management, employment connections, wellness support, and assistance with benefits eligibility. Through a one-time $6 million investment to ECHO, as the lead agency for the Austin/Travis County Continuum of Care, St. David’s Foundation will help support the services component for more than 400 PSH units across five new properties allowing time for local public and private funders to identify sustainable funding models going forward. 

Learn more about local efforts to increase permanent supportive housing here.

Responsive Funding for Basic Needs in Rural Counties  

In response to changing federal policies and a challenging local funding environment, the Foundation is also supporting local organizations responding to the needs of this moment in ways that are complementary to our efforts to maximize public benefits. These additional investments total $700,000 in support of immediate basic needs in rural areas including food, utilities, and emergency financial assistance.

The following grants will increase access to short-term, immediate services to foster economic stability for families in Bastrop, Caldwell, and Williamson counties who are experiencing financial hardship as a complement to the We All Benefit grants: