Tag Archives: homelessness
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…
Austin • By Andrew Weber, KUT • Jun 28, 2021
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…
Austin • By Sean Saldaña • Jun 16, 2021
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…
Austin • By Andrew Weber, KUT • Jun 15, 2021
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…
Police • By Andrew Weber, KUT • Jun 14, 2021
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…
City Council • By Jonathan Lee • Jun 8, 2021
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…
City Council • By Andrew Weber, KUT • Jun 2, 2021
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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…
Housing • By Jo Clifton • May 26, 2021
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…
City Council • By Andrew Weber, KUT • May 25, 2021
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,…
Austin • By Andrew Weber, KUT • May 24, 2021
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…
City Council • By Jonathan Lee • May 19, 2021
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…
Austin • By Jo Clifton • May 19, 2021
Zero Waste Advisory Commission talks through logistics of Prop B
With the passage of Proposition B earlier this month, Austin residents voted to reinstate local laws establishing prohibitions against sitting, resting and camping in public in certain parts of the city. Opponents of the proposition argued that in addition to having…
