Following the repeal of the homeless camping ban in Austin in 2019, Texas Governor Greg Abbott designated a piece of state land in East Austin as a sanctioned homeless encampment.
In the years that followed and amidst the COVID pandemic, there were reports from neighbors outside and inside the camp that it needed more robust management and services.
In August of 2020, The Other Ones Foundation (TOOF), an Austin-based nonprofit, was selected to manage the encampment and expand its services to provide a new solution for homelessness in Austin.
Then in February of this year, Governor Abbott, TxDOT, and the city of Austin announced a significant expansion of the property, now called the Esperanza Community.
Governor Abbott said the partnership was developing a model that could be duplicated across the country, calling the Esperanza Community a “blueprint for how cities across Texas, and the country, can help address homelessness.”
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said, “we’re building on the unique partnership with the state to address the needs of our unhoused neighbors and expand upon TxDOT’s award-winning work at the Esperanza Community.”
The plan announced earlier this year would allow the Esperanza Community to double its capacity, including the provision of an additional 7 acres of land from TxDOT.
The state had provided a significant amount of funding, roughly $65 million, through the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, with the majority of that funding for the build out and expansion of the Esperanza Community.
According to its website, TOOF’s “physical shelter and associated services are designed to respond to the needs of people who have not engaged with, or been adequately served by more traditional shelter services.”
“Community members are offered holistic support services, including onsite work opportunities, harm reduction and substance use support, highly personalized case management and housing navigation, and 24-hour crisis management.”
However, as part of the city of Austin’s proposed budget, the Other Ones Foundation found out that the funding they have received in the past from the city to maintain and operate the community is in peril.
With the expiration of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds at the end of this year, the prior funding provided by the City of Austin was not included in the budget.
In a letter shared with the Lone Star Standard, the Other Ones Foundation said that if the budget needs are not reauthorized, “we will have to scale back services, resulting in a resurgence of issues currently mitigated by TOOF programming.”
The letter continues, “through our unique and extremely low barrier approaches to emergency shelter, vocational training, and family reunification, were able to serve 600 individuals, stably house 288 of those clients, and pay out $920,000 in earned income to people experiencing homelessness for removing 838,031 lbs of trash from green spaces.”
“If our programming is curtailed, there will be significant reduction in output, as well as an increase in risks posed by more unsheltered homelessness, not only affecting the people the TOOF serves directly, but other Austin residents, businesses, and visitors.”
A report by the Austin Journal found that while the Austin City Manager has proposed spending all the revenues generated under the maximum tax rate allowed under state law without a tax rate election, the city has almost $400 million in voter-approved bond funds and other funds that could be used as a one-time funding source to fund the Esperanza Community.
The Mayor and City Council are set to start the budget adoption process on August 14th.
