Two pieces of city-owned property have been identified as potential sites for homeless encampments, with an analysis of possible zoning issues preceding the disclosure of where the sites are located. The estimated cost of preparing the sites with the utilities and other services needed to safely help the local homeless population range from $1.33 million […]
homelessness
Posted inAustin
An Austin nonprofit is raising money to help make state homeless camp feel more like a neighborhood
For the better part of two years, the Esperanza Community in Southeast Austin has been home for many people experiencing homelessness. On any given day, roughly 150 people live and work on the weather-beaten, 5-acre blacktop owned by the Texas Department of Transportation. It doesn’t look like a traditional “neighborhood,” but it has felt like […]
Posted inAustin
ZWAC looks to extend contract for encampment cleanups
Last week, the Zero Waste Advisory Commission voted unanimously to advance a contract extension with Relief Enterprise of Texas Inc., a contractor that has handled homeless encampment trash cleanup for the city around Interstate 35, U.S. Highway 183, Loop 1 and U.S. Highway 290. The contract, which was brought before ZWAC last year, was initially […]
Posted inAustin
Austin police officers clear homeless encampments around City Hall
Austin police officers on Monday cleared encampments around City Hall that were erected by people experiencing homelessness. The city said in a statement that officers were moving people from the corner of Guadalupe and Cesar Chavez streets for construction work. The city said officers met with people staying in tents in the morning and told them […]
Posted inPolice
Austin police can start ticketing people for panhandling and camping or sitting in public
The Austin Police Department will begin enforcing a city ban on camping in public that was reinstated by Austin voters last month. Proposition B, the citizen-led effort to reinstate the rules, officially went into effect May 11, but the city adopted a staggered approach to enforcing the ban, along with prohibitions on panhandling and sitting or lying down in […]
Posted inCity Council
Council to commit to ‘transformational’ homelessness spending – if others do too
City Council’s plan to spend a majority of the city’s share of American Rescue Plan Act money on homelessness is gaining traction, with a vote scheduled for Thursday to approve a spending framework for the $143.6 million in federal stimulus money. City staffers propose spending $84 million – that’s 58 percent – of the ARPA […]
Posted inCity Council
City staff ask for more time, direction on Austin’s plan to set up homeless encampments
A preliminary plan to set up encampments on city-owned land in Austin has hit a snag. City Council directed city staffers to identify land for temporary camps last month after voters reinstated the ban on public encampments. The initial list was met with pushback, so staffers have asked to extend Thursday’s deadline to next month and begin setting up a temporary […]
Posted inHousing
Espero at Rutland offers hope for the homeless
At next week’s meeting, City Council, acting as the board of directors of the Austin Housing Finance Corporation, is expected to approve funding for a 171-unit supportive housing development at 1934 Rutland Drive. In building and operating Espero at Rutland, AHFC will partner with Caritas of Austin and the Vecino Group, a national low-income tax credit […]
Posted inCity Council
Black leaders say Austin’s list of proposed sites for homeless camps is inequitable
Black leaders in Austin called the city’s list of proposed sites for public encampments inequitable and criticized staffers for placing most of the locations east of Interstate 35. The group on Monday called for a revision of the plan, which is less than a week old, at a news conference hosted by the Black Leaders […]
Posted inAustin
Austin’s homeless population remained steady during pandemic, survey shows
Austin’s homeless population has remained steady since last year, according to the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition’s annual count. All told, this year’s count found 3,160 people were experiencing homelessness in Austin, ECHO says. The agency says 2,238 people were unsheltered, while 922 people were in traditional shelters or staying in the hotel properties acquired by […]
Posted inCity Council
Early list of potential campsites for the homeless causes stir
City Council weighed in Tuesday on an initial list of 45 city-owned properties that could potentially serve as campsites for people experiencing homelessness, embarking on the logistically and politically fraught process of deciding whether to establish a campsite in each of the 10 Council districts, as proposed earlier this month. Though Council has previously rejected […]
Posted inAustin
What’s the plan for American Rescue Plan money?
After seeing a rough outline of how city staffers plan to spend $143.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to house the homeless, address food insecurity, and provide affordable child care and job training, City Council still had a lot of questions about specifics at Tuesday’s work session. Council members Alison Alter and Kathie […]