The city has created a dedicated office for homelessness services, in a move intended to let city staff address that area more quickly and decisively. Interim City Manager Jesús Garza informed City Council of the change in a memo released Tuesday. He signaled some of his plans for solving homelessness in June, when he assigned […]
homelessness
Posted inCity Council
Council approves $15M purchase of the Salvation Army shelter property
The former Salvation Army Downtown Shelter will continue to serve people without homes for years to come, following City Council’s decision to purchase the property for $15 million. The purchase includes the 130-bed shelter on Eighth Street and a retail storefront and parking lot on the 700 block of Red River Street. The purchase removes […]
Posted inAustin
The city says shelter is coming for homeless Austinites. Nonprofits would like a word.
Lee esta historia en español For years, Austin didn’t focus on finding shelter for people living outdoors. Instead, the city prioritized longer-term solutions, like getting people into apartments. That philosophy at City Hall has changed. Under Mayor Kirk Watson, the city opened a 300-bed shelter during the summer’s record-breaking heat, and it aims to open more […]
Posted inCity Hall
Council delays decision on new hotel tax that could fund homelessness services
City Council has put on hold a long-discussed partnership with local hotels that could generate millions of dollars in General Fund revenue to cover expenses related to services for the homeless. At last week’s meeting, Council voted to delay action on the proposed Austin Tourism Public Improvement District until Sept. 14. The delay in deciding […]
Posted inCity Hall
Garza announces more changes at City Hall
A new memo outlines yet another shake-up at the city courtesy of interim City Manager Jesús Garza. City Council reappointed Garza interim city manager in February, following a vote that fired City Manager Spencer Cronk from the position. Since then, he has introduced a series of changes to the organizational structure of City Hall. The […]
Posted inAustin
Dianna Grey, Austin’s strategy officer for homelessness, has resigned
Dianna Grey, who has served as Austin’s strategy officer for homelessness since the beginning of 2021, has resigned. Interim City Manager Jesús Garza said in an emailed statement, “Dianna will certainly be missed, and I am sorry to see her go. She held a very challenging position as the Homeless Strategy Officer during particularly challenging […]
Posted inPublic Health
Austin provides shelter in freezes but not in triple-digit heat – and advocates want change
Austin’s triple-digit temperatures – 44 days in a row as of Sunday – have been near-unbearable for people living outdoors. And with the heat streak likely to continue well into next week, a group of nonprofits is asking the city to set up emergency shelter on a more consistent basis. The group wrote a letter […]
Posted inCity Council
$9.1M emergency homeless shelter at the Marshalling Yard expected to open by end of August
City Council on Thursday approved a proposal to operate a $9.1 million temporary emergency homeless shelter at the Marshalling Yard, a city-owned facility located near the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The move comes as Austin sees 10 straight days of temperatures reaching 105 degrees or higher, creating urgency for Council members worried about the serious health […]
Posted inPublic Health
ECHO says permanent supportive housing is the only way out of Austin’s homelessness crisis
Austin’s Ending Community Homelessness Coalition joined City Council’s Public Health Committee this month to break down the nonprofit’s latest point-in-time count, which in late January found 2,374 Austinites experiencing some degree of homelessness. While that figure is down from 2020, Executive Director Matt Mollica said it will take years of sustained effort to truly address […]
Posted inAustin
Annual count shows small drop in Austin’s homeless population
Data from the city’s first point-in-time count of the local homeless population in three years show a slight decrease in the total number of people living without shelter, with laws against camping in public causing a sharp decrease in the number of unhoused people in the downtown core. Austin’s Ending Community Homelessness Coalition (ECHO) released […]
Posted inHousing
Austin is opening a temporary homeless shelter in Southeast Austin
In light of a growing need for emergency shelter, Austin is repurposing a city-owned warehouse space in Southeast Austin to temporarily house 300 people experiencing homelessness. In a city memo out late last week, interim City Manager Jesús Garza said a portion of the warehouse near U.S. Highway 183 and State Highway 71 will be converted for […]
Posted inAustin
Tourism Commission seeks answers on stalled hotel tax to fund homeless services
The Tourism Commission wants to take a hard look at the lack of progress on, and new considerations involved in, the long-discussed taxing district that could see large hotels contribute a new tax levy toward costs associated with homelessness. Next month, the commission will receive a presentation from Scott Joslove, a former commission member and […]