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Austin Public Health reports CSBG outcomes, tells CDC neighborhood-center renovations near completion
Summary
Austin Public Health staff reported Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) outcomes — including nearly 93,000 people served by food distributions in 2024 and 1,216 households helped to avoid eviction — and updated commissioners on neighborhood-center renovations and election logistics for CDC seats.
Austin Public Health staff presented the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) program update at the February Community Development Commission meeting, reporting program outcomes and site updates and answering commissioner questions about outreach and funding stability.
Jason Brano, Neighborhood Services Unit, Austin Public Health, summarized the CSBG program's 2024 performance. "We served almost 93,000 individuals through our food distributions this past year," Brano said. He told commissioners the program met its state-set transitions-out-of-poverty goal (47 transitions vs. a 43 goal) and reported that the program's rent-assistance efforts helped 1,216 individuals avoid eviction.
Brano also described operational updates: multiple longstanding neighborhood centers — South Austin, Blackland, Rosewood/La Zaragoza and Rosa Zaragoza were named — are undergoing major HVAC and infrastructure renovations, delaying re-openings but promising improved facilities. He said Dust (Dove) Springs Neighborhood Center has reopened in a limited form and staff are coordinating mobile food pantry locations to expand service closer to the center. Brano noted personnel costs for CSBG carry through March 2025 under an extension for the 2024 budget and distinguished those grant-funded positions from other rental-assistance funds, which are drawn from general fund dollars and are limited.
Commissioners pressed staff on outreach, signage and accessibility during renovations. Commissioner Delgado described poor lighting and ADA-related access problems at an East Austin neighborhood center during recent on-site voting and asked for better signage and clearer communication to residents when centers are temporarily closed. Brano said staff were posting information online, using site signage and word-of-mouth; he accepted the suggestion to improve visible temporary signage directing clients to alternate facilities.
Why it matters: CSBG funds frontline services for low-income residents, including basic needs, case management and employment supports. The neighborhood centers and mobile distributions are a key delivery point for those services, and commissioners emphasized that communications gaps during renovations can create confusion for seniors, people with mobility devices and residents who rely on center-based services.
Context and next steps: Staff said they will return with more detailed reopening dates as HVAC and interior work concludes and will provide additional outreach materials to commissioners and neighborhood contacts. Commissioners also requested clearer public-facing materials on election timelines for CDC geographic seats; staff reiterated candidate interest and documentation deadlines for upcoming elections.
Ending: Brano and staff said they have not received notice that state CSBG funding is jeopardized and noted national-level advocacy and monitoring efforts by community action agencies. Commissioners thanked staff for the report and asked for follow-up detail on re-opening schedules and outreach improvements.
