El Paso Family Stabilization Grant Fund
UpTogether, in partnership with the Woody and Gayle Hunt Family Foundation and EPISO/Border Interfaith, provided $500 monthly unrestricted cash payments to 120 El Paso County families for six months (October 2024-March 2025). The privately funded initiative aimed to stabilize households, ease housing cost burdens, and support economic mobility. Participants were identified by EPISO/Border Interfaith from high-need areas across El Paso city and county rather than through an open public application. It was the third direct-cash initiative launched jointly by UpTogether and EPISO/Border Interfaith in El Paso, following COVID-era funds in 2020-2021, and collectively these efforts have benefited about 1,400 families.
Direct cash, Guaranteed income, Border region, Privately funded, EPISO/Border Interfaith partnership, Unconditional cash, Successor to cancelled county program
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- UpTogether
- City
- Oakland
- State / Province
- California
- Country
- United States
Contact
- Website
- https://www.uptogether.org/
- Social media links
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Active
- Program status
- Inactive
- Number of recipients
- 120
- Funding type
- Philanthropic
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Fiat
- Currency
- USD
- Total Amount
- 3,000 USD
- Avg. Per Month
- 500 USD
- Payment frequency
- Monthly
- How long the program lasts
- 6 months
- Distribution Type
- Check, Digital/Virtual payment card, Direct deposit, Pre-paid debit card, Samsung Pay, Google Pay, Apple Pay
- Benefit details
Participants received $500 per month for six months ($3,000 total per household) disbursed through UpTogether's platform, which supports direct deposit, prepaid debit cards, checks, and digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay). Funds were unrestricted cash with no usage requirements.
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
Open to El Paso County households (both within and outside the city of El Paso) with incomes below 80% of area median income (AMI). Rather than a public application, EPISO/Border Interfaith identified and referred eligible households through community outreach in high-need areas. Recipient profile per program surveys: 61% had at least one child, nearly three-fourths lived below the federal poverty line, about one-quarter reported a disability, and roughly half were employed.
Financial
- Income as % of Area Median Income
- 80 %
Geography
- US states covered
- Texas
- Countries covered
- United States
- Cities covered
- El Paso
- Counties covered
- El Paso County
- Residency of Target Geography
- Yes
Participation
- Research / data sharing
- Optional
- Research / participation requirements
UpTogether collected survey data from participants covering housing cost burden, disability status, employment, and use of funds, used to evaluate the program's impact on housing stability, employment, and overall well-being. Sources do not state that data sharing was a mandatory condition of receiving payments.
Application Process
- How to apply
Not an open-application program. Participants were identified and directly referred by EPISO/Border Interfaith through community outreach and existing relationships in high-need areas of El Paso city and county; no public application process for this specific fund was documented in available sources.
- Selection process
EPISO/Border Interfaith leaders used their deep community networks and connections with government institutions to identify and select eligible households in high-need areas across El Paso city and county, building on relationships established during two prior direct-cash initiatives in the region (2020-2021).
