#15 Community Resources for Those in Need. 

Hello Fort Worth and welcome to another episode of the Fort Worth Freedom Review.

If you are new here, the Freedom Review exists to inform and educate the Fort Worth and Tarrant County community about the values and the functions of civic engagement, the goings-on of the local City Council, the Mayor, and the County Commissioners Court as well as important news stories from our community and from the greater Texas community including state political issues. 

My name is Anthony Sosa and today with me we have Amber O’Dell, Christopher Rose and Thomas Moore here to discuss the state of the Fort Worth and Tarrant County economy and how COVID has economically impacted our communities. We are primarily here, however, to provide resources to those that may be struggling financially or otherwise and to point people in the right direction to access those services.. 

All of the resources used for today's episode will be provided below in the show notes. 

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Music by Anthony Sosa 

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Amber Notes:

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/coronavirus/article249139950.html

Tarrant Co Vaccination Request

https://tcph.quickbase.com/db/bq3q4uet8?

linklocation=Button%20List&linkname=Register%20for%20the%20COVID%20Vaccine

Vaccine info

https://www.tarrantcounty.com/en/public-health/disease-control---prevention/COVID-19/COVID-19-Vaccine.html

Mental Health Connection

http://www.mentalhealthconnection.org/need-help

Anthony Notes: 

Rutger Bregman TED Talk "Poverty Isn't a Lack of Character, It's a Lack of Cash"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydKcaIE6O1k

Pier 1 Closed in May and the old building will be the new City Hall by 2022. 

(https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/fort-worth-closes-sale-new-city-hall-former-pier-1-building/ar-BB1dkiP5 )

Pier 1 Employed over 800 people in FW in 2019 (https://www.dallasnews.com/business/retail/2020/03/24/pier-1-imports-lays-off-65-of-staff-at-fort-worth-headquarters/) 

Unemployment rate in tarrant County: 2008-Dec 2020 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/TXTARR9URN 

2017 video by John Green-What is the Real Unemployment Rate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn6JWzoKv14 

Welfare Offices Fort Worth

https://www.welfareoffices.org/ci/tx-fort_worth 

Need Help Paying Bills . com (lists of local charities: Food Assistance, Rent Assistance, Utility Assistance, Medical Bills, Debt help, Mortgage Help- NGO and City services)

https://www.needhelppayingbills.com/html/tarrant_county_assistance_prog.html 

Fort Worth Housing Assistance for COVID

https://www.fortworthtexas.gov/departments/neighborhoods/cap/emergency-cares-act 

Community Action Partners (CAP) of Tarrant County (heating, vent &A/C-Utility Assistance, Veterans Services, Water Payment Assistance, Weatherization Assistance)

https://www.fortworthtexas.gov/departments/neighborhoods/cap 

Tarrant Co Housing Assistance

https://access.tarrantcounty.com/en/housing-assistance-office.html 

Tarrant Co Burial Assistance

http://www.tarrantcounty.com/en/human-services/burial-assistance.html 

CARES Act Rental Assistance for Tarrant Co (In English, Spanish and Vietnimese) 

http://www.tarrantcounty.com/en/county/social-services/rental-assistance-application.html 

Tarrant Co Small Business Assistance Grants

http://www.tarrantcounty.com/en/county/small-business.html 

Christopher Rose Notes:

Project to Protect Vulnerable Population

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/coronavirus/fort-worth-completes-project-to-protect-vulnerable-population/2526602/

https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2021/02/10/as-bitter-cold-settles-in-covid-19-complicating-efforts-help-homeless/

Mobile COVID Testing

http://www.tarrantcounty.com/en/justice-of-the-peace-courts/justice-1/covid-19---jc1/mobile-testing.html

Rental Assistance

https://access.tarrantcounty.com/content/dam/main/covid-cares/rentalAssistanceresources_01072021.pdf 

Statewide Relief

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/gov-abbott-tdhca-announce-statewide-covid-19-rental-relief-program/2546813/

Cuts to COVID Housing Plan 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/worried-about-small-businesses-fort-worth-cuts-covid-housing-plan-to-10-million/ar-BB17Qxe1

Thomas Notes:

Tarrant Area Food Bank

https://tafb.org/

Food Bank .org

https://www.food-bank.org/

Northside Inter-Community Agency

https://www.nicaagency.org/

Funkytown Fridge

https://www.funkytownfridge.org/

https://www.funkytownfridge.org/locations

OD-Aid

https://www.odaidfw.org/