Amplify Austin – Meet Paula

Here’s the story of one of the many individuals changed by our work…

Sometimes, you can leave Austin just by walking through a door… at least the Austin we think we know.

That’s how iACT’s Hands on Housing staff felt when they first walked through Paula’s front door. Paula is 66 years old and has lived in the same modest house for nearly her entire life. Once inside the doors, it was immediately evident to our staff that her home was in alarming condition with sagging ceilings and rotten sheet rock. Worse still, it was a cold winter day and the house felt like a freezer – there was no functioning heat. But then the real shock came when Paula confided that she had been living without running water for over a year.

No running water.

Paula is a very shy woman and it had taken a long time for us to earn her trust. In the rapidly gentrifying world of East Austin there are a lot of rumors about “people wanting to take your home” and Paula was convinced that her new neighbors in their nice houses would call the City and have her home condemned if they knew how bad things had gotten. That is why she waited until dark to fill buckets with water from a neighbor’s hose.

Today, thanks to iACT’s Hands on Housing program, Paula has hot and cold running water, her roof has been patched, her electrical system upgraded, the sheet rock repaired, and her exterior walls have their first new coat of paint in many years. – Paula’s favorite shade of forest green. However, if you ask what matters to her the most, Paula answers, “the hope that you have given me.”

Your donations to iACT will help fund our Hands on Housing program which has made Paula’s home safe and hope filled. Hope fueled by Amplify Austin and iACT!