Austin’s Spiking Homeless Problem Comes To Head Over Frigid Christmas

Austin’s Spiking homeless problem came to a head for the city over Christmas as temperatures dropped below freezing and many spent the night outside.

Austin was hit hard by an arctic blast over Christmas weekend. opened cold weather shelters and welcomed hundreds of the city’s thousands of homeless people between Thursday evening and Tuesday morning. The low temperature for Christmas Eve in the area was 12 degrees, according to the National Weather Service, and a freeze warning was in effect through Christmas night.

The problem of homelessness has been a problem in the capital for many years. However, it has become much more severe in the past year. The Austin area now has nearly 3,500 homeless residents. according ECHO, an Austin non-profit that helps homeless people, is the best. This number has increased by more than 20% in the past year compared to this year.

The Texas Department of Transportation cleaned up a homeless camp in South Austin’s South Lamar neighborhood on Tuesday. When asked about cleanups they initially pointed to Austin, but later stated that Texas DOT was responsible.

Texas DOT said It “typically” The cleanups are held on Tuesdays, and homeless people have the chance to take their belongings before crews arrive. The department stated that all items left behind will be removed and signs advising people about the state’s ban on camping on public property at cleanup sites will be posted.

This means that people who were homeless on Monday and Christmas weekend found their belongings gone by Tuesday when they returned to the shelter. Also, the cleanup appears To have picked up all the blankets, jackets and other supplies that hundreds had donated to homeless people before the storm hit.

A spokesperson for Austin stated that the city was not involved in this cleanup, or any other Christmas week cleanups at homeless encampments. said. The rest of the year, there are no cleanups.

The shelters were closed on Christmas Day when temperatures reached above freezing. They reopened that night when it dropped below freezing. The city said it also fed guests with breakfast and box lunches.

Now Austin and Texas DOT have been criticized by angry residents as well as homeless advocates.

“We were horrified to realize that there were so many people that had no idea that cold weather was coming and no way to prepare for it,” said Austin Mutual Aid’s Sasha Rose, a local grassroots group.

Meanwhile, residents complain that homeless people from nearby encampments cause a litany of problems for their neighbors.

“I’ve seen urinating and defecating into the street. We’ve seen needles. We’ve seen broken bottles and litter, stuff like that,” One South Austin resident told KVUE earlier in the month

Reports to 311, 911, and emails to the district’s council members yielded little fruit, residents say.

Austin voters last year banned homeless people camping in public spaces. Since then, the ban has been enforced in Austin by police and other agencies of the state and municipal governments.

Austin is also a great place to live. invested millions of dollars into providing housing for the city’s homeless, including renovating Hotels to be turned into shelters