Homelessness

The City of Austin agreed to pay Housing Connector $2.14 million over two years. The company currently operates in at least three other cities, including Dallas, Denver and Portland, Oregon.

Central Health's bridge program offers an alternative to the emergency room when unhoused people have health needs.

St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in North Austin started opening its doors to people experiencing homelessness earlier this year. The church aims to have the pop-up shelter up and running anytime the temperature hits 35 degrees or lower.

Unlike nearby Travis County, Williamson County does not have any government run overnight shelters for the area’s homeless population — including when it gets cold outside. Residents frustrated by the situation came together to create their own solution this winter.

The study looked at the causes of death of more than 1,000 people without housing who died over a five-year period.

Once the decision to open cold-weather shelters is made, the decision stands – even if the forecast changes.

After receiving community feedback, the city lowered the temperature threshold to open the shelters and started giving people experiencing homelessness more of a heads up.

Austin's Ending Community Homeless Coalition will set out to count as many people experiencing homelessness as possible on a single night on Jan. 25.

Students at UT's Dell Medical School run the C.D. Doyle Clinic at the Esperanza Community in Southeast Austin, offering free medical care to people in need.

The city will use a combination of COVID relief money and general fund dollars to support the shelter through September 2025, but will then have to find a more permanent solution.