(Texas Scorecard) – Plano City Council members unanimously approved an annual plan for allocating more than $2.2 million in federal funds to qualifying local housing and community service programs for low-income residents.
The funds are distributed to cities by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Cities then allocate the HUD funds via grants to local providers of approved programs.
Plano’s Neighborhood Services Department oversees the administration of HUD funding and vets grant request applications.
A nine-member Community Relations Commission selected several programs to receive Plano’s HUD funds for 2025-26, following five grant presentation meetings and a public hearing in April to consider the grant requests.
Director of Neighborhood Services Curtis Howard presented the Annual Action Plan and CRC recommendations to city council members during a meeting on Monday night.
Ahead of the meeting, out-of-state activists issued calls for Plano residents to oppose one of the recommended grants: $36,983 for a local domestic violence prevention nonprofit called Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation.
Howard described TMWF as a shelter for domestic violence victims that helps women and children of all faiths who are trying to get away from abusers and need a safe place to stay.
An alert issued by Act for America called TMWF an “Islamic hate group” and accused the organization of being “linked to” radical Islamic causes. The New York-based RAIR Foundation initiated the claims and directed people to attend Monday’s meeting and speak against the grant for the shelter, calling TMWF a “terror-tied Islamic group.”
Two Plano residents showed up to speak against approving HUD funds for the shelter.
Amy Beachum quoted RAIR claims and told council members, “Information indicates that Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation has alleged ties to Hamas sympathizers, anti-Semites, and radical Islam”; while Elizabeth Angle cited “credible concerns about a lack of transparency, ideological programming, and a narrow cultural lens.”
Four non-residents, including two RAIR allies and a councilwoman from another city, also spoke against the TMWF grant, citing religious and constitutional concerns.
Two TMWF board members spoke at the meeting in defense of their organization.
“I just want to make it clear what that organization does and who it serves,” David Kelly told council members.
“The Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation is a domestic violence charity that houses women of all faiths, all creeds, all colors, all nations, and we do not discriminate. In fact, the majority of the people that we serve are not Muslim,” he said.
Kelly said TMWF provides emergency shelters in Plano for women fleeing abuse, as well as rental assistance and senior care.
“There have been some statements made online that are bigoted, and I’m here to stand up against those bigoted, hateful statements and to encourage you to look at what the organization does and not what it does not do,” concluded Kelly. “What it does is serve women who are escaping violence; what it does not do is anything else.”
TMWF treasurer Faryal Virk emphasized that the 20-year-old nonprofit serves the entire community and is subject to federal and other audits, which she said have always been “clean.”
“It is well-respected across the Metroplex for its work, and it is committed to serving people—mostly women and children—who need help,” said Virk.
“It saddens me to think that a clarion call from outside our city that is steeped in misinformation can motivate my fellow citizens to express some of the anger I have seen today,” she added.
Responding to questions raised during public comments, Howard verified that when the city accepts grant requests, agencies must provide receipts to be reimbursed for HUD-approved activities.
Howard also confirmed to council members that the city has worked with TMWF for several years, vetted and audited the nonprofit multiple times, monitored its receipts, and never found any indication that the grant funds were used for any other purpose than to help domestic violence victims.
He noted that during his years as a Collin County prosecutor involved with crimes against women and children, Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation “has always been there, providing those services to women and children who need it, regardless of race and ethnicity.”
“We do not have capacity in the city of Plano to deal with all the victims of family violence,” he added.
Council members voted 8-0 to approve the proposed HUD funding plan, including the grant requested by TMWF.
HUD has been plagued by scandals since its creation in 1965.
President Donald Trump selected former Texas State Representative Scott Turner to head the agency.
Secretary Turner said this month that HUD is committed to being a good steward of “two things: taxpayer dollars and the people we serve.”