Debate over proposed homeless center in South Austin heats up

AUSTIN, Texas - There are new details on the proposed housing navigation center in South Austin that has brought pushback from the community.

One Austin City Council member initially told FOX 7 Austin the Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center would relocate to the new site. 

However, the homeless strategy office has told neighbors there isn't an operation for the center just yet.

Debate on proposed homeless center

The backstory:

The debate is heating up over a proposed homeless navigation center in south Austin.

"While they're saying this is a process that includes constituent input, it does not feel that way," said concerned resident, Morgan Moran De Sanchez.

"I think a lot of people are kind of filling in the blank with their worst possible imagination," said council member Ryan Alter.

The center would serve as a hub for at-risk Austinites seeking housing support and services. City staff say the area has transit access, minimal impact on neighborhoods, and is near the Southbridge Shelter.

"What this really is, is if someone is homeless, and they need some kind of basic service, whether that is just a case, a coordinated assessment to get a case manager, maybe a mailing address, somewhere to store their medication, somewhere get medical services, mental health services, there are a lot of things that people need who are on the street," said Alter.

The other side:

But many neighbors remain opposed, pointing out the site is within walking distance of Travis High School and Travis Heights Elementary. They said they are already dealing with an influx of homeless people in the area.

"I feel it's my parental duty to pay attention, ask questions, push for answers, push for a plan to try and protect my children from any potential. Harms that should not happen again from what we've learned in the past," said Moran De Sanchez.

Is Sunrise operating the new proposed center?

Dig deeper:

Last month, Alter said the city was moving Sunrise’s operations to this site.

"We're in some of the final stages of acquiring a new site to have a housing navigation center where we can move Sunrise's current operation to," Alter said in September.

In July, he also alluded to the move.

"I do foresee ultimately being able to make this acquisition this calendar year, start moving some of those services later in the year, and ultimately having pretty much all the services move by the beginning of next year," said Alter.

But Monday, his message shifted.

"No, we're not purchasing this and saying that we are only doing this for Sunrise, and this is going to be just a specially carved out Sunrise operation. We are identifying the need for these navigation services, seeing what's happening at Sunrise, given that they don't have the space and the facility to do this and recognizing as we go through the process, they might participate in that process, but it will go through that process," said Alter. 

"This is where it starts to get concerning for me as a constituent. Our community has consistently asked for one simple thing, and that's transparency and a plan, and instead what we're seeing is a sharp shift in narrative in going from calling it a relocation to calling it something new entirely," said Moran De Sanchez.

FOX 7 Austin asked Alter if Sunrise still wants to operate the site.

"Yes, they certainly have some interest in operating here, given the constraints of their existing space, but once again, we're going to make sure that we learn lessons from their operations so it's not just picking up and moving but doing it right, doing it better," said Alter.

What's next:

The city says because the property is city-owned, there would be more oversight compared to other faith-based providers.

De Sanchez and others want to delay the vote, but later say deadlines for the real estate purchase make that unlikely.

The city council will vote on it on Thursday, Oct. 9. There needs to be at least six "yes" votes for it to pass.

Alter says if it passes, then they begin the process of finding an operator for the site.

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