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Austin is homeless with nowhere to go while camping is cracked down on
Austin does not have enough housing for the estimated 3,000 homeless residents.
Austin, Texas – It’s been two months since the city of Austin implemented the final phase of its four-stage plan to reinstate homeless camping. Now many public places in and around the city center have been cleared of camps.
Dozens of homeless people lived under I-35 in downtown Austin for a long time, but now there’s hardly a tent in sight. In fact, several public, highly visible places across the city were wiped clean. However, these people are still experiencing homelessness simply because they no longer camp in these areas due to the camping ban.
“The majority of the people who were in these camps are still homeless. They are just camping elsewhere at the moment,” said Councilor Kathie Tovo.
Tovo says enforcing the homeless camping ban has forced people not to camp there – but in other areas. “Unfortunately, in most cases, these people do not have stable accommodation and they simply find less visible places to camp,” said Tovo.
According to a city spokesman for Austin, the city has relocated 150 people from camps to shelters as part of the HEAL initiative passed earlier this year. This was a separate project from Prop B, connecting a select number of people from four areas with housing and resources.
“In relation to this effort, the people who were in these camps are now being housed and those who have accepted the housing offer, and almost all of them have received the kind of services and support that will help them succeed. ” Living, “said Tovo.
Unfortunately, due to the limited number of resources available, HEAL cannot provide immediate housing or housing to all individuals subject to enforcement. A city spokesman said:
“Although the city has allocated significant new funding to tackle homelessness, the community’s overall capacity for emergency shelters remains limited. This means that the city is unable to provide immediate shelter or shelter to anyone subject to enforcement. Homeless Strategy Officer Dianna Gray and the team are monitoring ways to safely restore bed capacity in existing urban shelters, but the current COVID-19 risk level does not yet allow a return to pre-COVID-19 occupancy levels. The Homeless Outreach Street Team (HOST) is working in the central business district to connect unprotected individuals to primary health care, behavioral health resources and support with coordinated assessment prioritized for housing resources, among other things.
The aim is to implement a second phase of the HEAL initiative next month to help around 200 homeless people. Tovo says the community needs to work together to find shelter for these people so they don’t have to hop around to avoid getting a ticket from APD.
“Living is absolutely the solution. We end homelessness with housing. Asking individuals to leave the camp because it is in a highly visible place does not solve their housing situation, ”said Tovo.
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