AUSTIN, Texas — Marni Rodriguez lived in Dove Springs for more than 13 years before she was forced out last year.
She said prices kept going up in the area, prompting her and her family to pack up and move to Buda.
In Spanish, she told KVUE her story and thoughts on the City of Austin's newest Displacement Prevention Navigator Pilot Program, which was launched in an effort to help people who live in Dove Springs and Colony Park find options to stay in their homes.
"It was expensive, and each time it just kept getting higher and higher," Rodriguez said.
According to Zillow, the average home price in the 78744 ZIP code, which covers Dove Springs, jumped from about $222,000 in 2018 to roughly $367,000 in 2023.
Rodriguez's children grew up in Dove Springs and still go to school there. She described the transition as "difficult and unbalanced," but a choice she said she had to make for her family.
"Either I work to eat or I work to live," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said Dove Springs has a special place in her heart, and she has volunteered in the area since 2011.
She said she knows people like herself who have been forced to move out of the area and people who are currently facing that reality.
"A lot of people have been displaced," Rodriguez said.
The pilot program brought in 12 "navigators" who volunteered to be the anchors of a community that they, too, call home.
Silvia Zuvieta Rodriguez said she was born and raised in Dove Springs and saw her own loved ones forced out because of the high costs. That was just one of the reasons why she applied to be a navigator.
"That really made me really passionate to work in Dove Springs, to keep my community together," Zuvieta Rodriguez said.
Zuvieta Rodriguez explained that navigators such as herself go into the communities and usually set up camp at the recreation center or library to hand out fliers and start a dialogue about what they are doing.
"We're targeting specific areas where people kind of gather. And we're also going to try to mail some of the information out to people we may know that may be in need," Zuvieta Rodriguez said.
For Rachel Salgado, her motivations mirror those of Zuvieta Rodriguez.
Salgado said at one point in her life, she was unhoused and couch-surfed around the Dove Springs area.
According to Salgado, it gave her "a purpose" to try and keep families who have called the neighborhood home for years.
"This is this is where they grew up. This is their neighborhood, and it's disheartening, " Salgado said.
Rodriguez said the only way to fix the problem is for the City and community to find a bridge they can walk on together and understand what is needed from one another.
"I think the program will go well. I expect the City will tackle it very well and take into account that there are many people who are facing displacement," Rodriguez said.
The program is set to run through May 2024, with coordinated events occurring throughout that timeframe for anyone in the neighborhood.
Boomtown is KVUE's series covering the explosive growth in Central Texas. For more Boomtown stories, head to KVUE.com/Boomtown.