Austin homeless strategy officer to present housing plan to council

City of Austin Homeless Strategy Officer outlines plan to house 3,000

Earlier this year the City of Austin committed to housing 3,000 people within three years but they didn't say exactly how they would do that. Austin City Council will hear the plan today. FOX 7 Austin's Kelly Saberi has details.

AUSTIN, Texas - The City of Austin is answering a major question after months of waiting: how does the city intend to house 3,000 people within the next three years?

At Thursday's Austin City Council meeting, homeless strategy officer Dianna Grey will be presenting a game plan.

Stakeholders initially estimated over $500 million will be needed.

"Everyone has really been asking for a more detailed spending plan and a detailed projection of what some of those costs are, so now we will have one," said Kathie Tovo, Austin City Council District Nine.

Stakeholders estimated it will take more than $500 million to get this done....the homeless strategy officer will outline where all that money will go, and if that much will be needed. Some of this money is coming from the government. Organizations like the Austin Justice Coalition have always pushed for the city to use the money wisely.

"A bucket of money has come down from the government through the American Rescue Plan Act and we need to make sure a significant chunk of that money is committed to this plan," said Joao Paulo Connolly, Austin Justice Coalition.

Austin's Homeless Strategy Officer to provide outline of plan

The goal is to implement a second phase of the HEAL initiative next month to serve around 200 people experiencing homelessness.

The City of Austin allocated $104 million including what we already have in our city budget and then Travis County did just about the same," said Tovo.

Proposition B enforcement is happening at the same time the city’s HEAL initiative is ongoing. HEAL has cleared four encampments and placed those people into temporary hotels.

Prop-B makes it a criminal offense to camp on sidewalks downtown or any public area in the city.

Tovo tells FOX 7 Austin this is a community effort, not a political one.

"We saw what the result is, people being asked to leave without any kind of resources or places to go," Tovo said. "Some of the encampments under 35, were not part of the HEAL initiative, those individuals were just asked to leave. The majority of them are likely still unhoused and camping elsewhere."

The meeting begins Thursday morning.

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