HOUSTON – The NAACP Houston Branch and partners held a news conference Wednesday to announce their support for Uplift Harris, a pilot program to help low-income households in Harris County.
County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Commissioner Rodney Ellis introduced the $20.5 million investment program in 2023. The idea was to help struggling families through a $500-a-month grant to support household needs.
WHAT IS IT? Pilot program ‘Uplift Harris’ notifying recipients of $500 monthly grant
Families were able to begin applying for the program mid-January with the disclosure that applicants must be 18 or older, have a household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty line, and live in one of 10 zip-coded areas that include Acres Homes, Sunnyside and Galena Park.
The joint news conference came several days after the Texas Attorney General filed a lawsuit on the program that he called “plainly unconstitutional.”
AG Ken Paxton filed the lawsuit on April 9, saying the program is unlawful, as any program that institutes “guaranteed income” violates the state constitution.
“This scheme is plainly unconstitutional,” Paxton said in a press statement. “Taxpayer money must be spent lawfully and used to advance the public interest, not merely redistributed with no accountability or reasonable expectation of a general benefit. I am suing to stop officials in Harris County from abusing public funds for political gain.”
Bishop James Dixon, president of the NAACP Houston Branch, announced Wednesday that the branch and its partners fully support the Uplift Harris program.
“Uplift Harris is morally right, it should not then be politically wrong,” Dixon said. “We’re living in times of extreme financial crises. The number of families that are poor are increasing and the burden of poverty is a social crisis of epidemic proportion.”
The NAACP Houston Branch stands 100% in favor of the program and advocates for its continuation. They also commended County Judge Hidalgo and commissioners who are in full support of the program.
Dixon believes this program is a public policy that makes moral and humanitarian sense, stating it’s the greatest demonstration of human compassion.
“If it’s morally right, how could it be politically wrong?” he asked.
Currently, Dixon said 1 in 5 children are growing up in poverty in Harris County. He said it is vital for survival for poor families who can not get ahead -- especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said this is a Texas and Houston crisis and for state officials to attempt to stop Uplift Harris is objectionable.
“Let’s rethink what we are doing and saying to our most vulnerable citizens,” Dixon said.
LIST: Houston-area nonprofits applicants of Uplift Harris can still turn to
During the new conference, Dixon urged all state officials to reconsider their actions against the program, asking, “How would you look in the faces of those in need and take away?”
He continued to urge all citizens, faith leaders and business owners to support the program.
“So, I would ask you to take off your political glasses, look through the lenses of the biblical text, good moral, judgment and consciousness and say as a human being we have a responsibility,” Dixon said. “And with Uplift Harris, the opportunity to prove that all people are made in the image of likeness of God and we’re all God’s children and we’re all responsible for one another.”
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