HOUSTON – The Uplift Harris program that will give $500 a month to qualified people begins next month.
Over 82,000 people applied for fewer than 2,000 spots.
These aren’t just numbers, but people living paycheck to paycheck.
One of these individuals is a grandmother who lives in north Houston. Rosie McCutcheon injured her back a few years ago at work, which ended up putting her on disability.
Since then, she’s undergone multiple back and shoulder surgeries. She says she was banking on the additional $500 a month assistance.
McCutcheon uses a rolling chair to get around her home. She said it was a gift because she was unable to get a wheelchair after the fall.
She is one of the 82,500 people to register for the program.
“My grandkids are my ride or die so therefore that money would have been towards groceries, clothing,” she said.
She said she was devastated when she heard she did not get into the program.
“I was broken-hearted. I really was because my hopes were so high. The standards were so high,” McCutcheon said. “I really cried.”
She was surprised that so many people applied for the program.
“Yes, especially with the zip codes. It wasn’t like it was all over Houston,” she said. “I’m just wondering how did they go about picking the people.”
Harris County Public Health oversees the program, the director shared last week. After getting those 82,000 applications, it went through a screening system then started phase one which narrowed it down to just 6,000 people then on to phase two.
“The phase two lottery then looks at those 6,000 and selects the final 1,928 to be selected,” said Brandon Maddox with Harris County Public Health. “For that second phase verification, that’s when individuals went in and uploaded additional verification documents to say they are who they say they are.”
McCutcheon said she believes there needs to be a way for more people to be helped by the program.
“We need a second chance program for the Uplift program. We really do. People are hurting,” she said.