‘We have much more to do’: Homeless strategy team presents spending update to Austin City Council
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AUSTIN (KXAN) – Austin’s homeless strategy department presented an update on homelessness spending to the city council on Thursday. As early as April, a coalition of homeless lawyers and city guides set the goal of housing 3,000 people who are homeless in three years.
The latest report, which was posted online and presented on Thursday, reveals more about the current funding gap. It calls for a total of $ 515 million over three years, with about $ 115 million still needed. 1,300 residential units are required for the second and third year.
Austin Police cadet class giving presentations on homelessness issues to city council on Thursday
Sources of the nearly $ 400 million already committed and anticipated funds include the city of Austin ($ 210 million; 52%), the state of Texas ($ 92 million; 23%), Travis County ( $ 57 million; 14%), Austin Housing Authority ($ 22 million; 6%), private donors ($ 16 million; 4%), and homeless service providers ($ 4 million; 1%) . It should be noted that more than half of the city’s contribution comes from federal economic funds.
You can find a more detailed breakdown here.
In a press conference on Thursday morning, the summit leaders reached out to the private sector to try to fill the funding gap.
“We still have a lot to do,” said Lynn Meredith, chairwoman of the summit. “We will need significant investment from business, private foundations, philanthropists and the rest of our citizens.”
“I want all of you to consider working with us to make this one-time investment,” reiterated Leo Ramirez, summit volunteer and local businessman.
Until then, local groups like We Can Now say they take care of the immediate needs.
“As we have these meetings and go home and wait for the next meeting next week, these people experience it every day,” says founder Anthony Jackson.
He doesn’t want the council members to forget their funding – they provide food, water, hygiene products and clothing to people affected by homelessness every Sunday.
Jackson says that since Proposition B was enforced, reaching out to the population has become more difficult.
“It’s up to them to go into the woods, to hike in the woods,” says Jackson, who is optimistic about the city’s three-year plan.
KXAN asked some of the summit leaders if they might find themselves in the same situation for the next year or the year after: asking for more donations.
They say investments like construction costs are already included in their current numbers, but they acknowledge that there will be ongoing costs.
What if the community doesn’t meet their $ 515 million goal?
“As with any budget, when there’s a little less income, we adjust our expectations,” said Dianna Gray, head of Austin’s homeless strategy. “I think we have enough funds for this effort to start expanding these programs.”
A breakdown of the numbers
Assuming the community reaches its full fundraising goal of $ 515 million, the Summit plan calls for more than half of that amount – $ 266 million – to be used to build affordable housing in the city should be output. That would be the above-mentioned 1300 residential units.
Gray says this is hardly an investment the city has to make every three years.
[$266 million] affordable housing will serve that community for 30 or 40 years, ”she said.
A breakdown of the Homeless Summit’s plan states that more than half of the $ 515 million will be spent on building affordable housing in the city (source: City of Austin).
This isn’t the only factor that Gray and other senior city officials believe will cut homelessness budgets in the future.
She tells us that there is a lot of unmet need in the next three years. After that, she says, the city should get an idea of how much it will take to maintain the city’s homeless system annually.
“Once we get out of the big work backlog, we can start thinking about what it will take to really keep the system going,” said Gray. “We do not assume that we will have to keep the level of service where it has to be over the next three years.”
Austin Mayor Steve Adler added, “The communities that have a scheme in place spend much less per capita each year to maintain their schemes.”
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