Harris County Public Health officials announced Jan. 8 that the application period for the low-income assistance program Uplift Harris has been delayed from its original January launch date.

What happened?

The delay, according to the news release, is because Harris County commissioners will be discussing and possibly taking action on program details at the Jan. 9 Commissioners Court meeting.

• The original online application intake period was scheduled from Jan. 8-26, but due to the delay, information on the new application launch date is expected to be announced later this week.

Dig deeper

Eligible applicants who are interested in receiving an email from county officials when the updated application period begins can fill out an interest form, which does not substitute as an application for the program.

What you need to know

Eligible applicants will be selected randomly from two cohorts. The first cohort, which will be around 70% of the participants, will be based on those who live in the targeted ZIP codes. To apply for the program, three requirements must be met, including:

• Be age 18 or older
• Have a household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty line, which stands until March at an annual gross household income of $60,000 for a family of four
• Live in one of the following 10 ZIP codes: 77026, 77028, 77033, 77050, 77051, 77060, 77081, 77091, 77093 or 77547

The second cohort is for active participants within Harris County’s Accessing Coordinated Care and Empowering Self Sufficiency—or ACCESS—Harris program. Around 30% of the participants will be selected from this population of applicants, according to the program website.

• All applications must be submitted online, according to the program’s website, since there are no paper applications. All eligibility documents can be uploaded as photos.

Community members without access to a computer, a smartphone or the internet are encouraged to visit an application assistance partner or a public library.