Austin Cold Weather Shelters Opened Despite Fewer Takers

AUSTIN, TX — City officials have activated their cold weather shelters to temporarily house the homeless ahead of temperatures expected to dip into the low 30s on Friday night. But if past implementations of the emergency move are any indicator, fewer people are expected to avail themselves of the service — part of a downward trend for which officials have no explanation.

In announcing the opening of shelters, city officials issued their customary deadline directed to members of the homeless population seeking to escape the weather: men and women traveling alone should report to the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless — better known by its ARCH acronym — at 500 E. 7th St. in downtown Austin by 5:15 p.m., while families in need of shelter should report to the Salvation Army, 501 E 8th St., by 7 p.m. The latter option includes parents with their children, unaccompanied minors or couples, as detailed in city literature.

City officials also provided the shelter hotline for those needing more information. The phone number is (512) 305-4233.

The activation of cold weather shelters is the second such move in just over a week's time. City officials last activated the measure on Wednesday, Feb. 5, amid reports of freezing weather. To be sure, the day proved especially chilly despite an overall mild winter — with a low temperature of 31 degrees made to feel even colder with the arrival of rare snow flurries across the Austin area.

Yet only 130 homeless people arrived to the ARCH or Salvation Army in securing emergency housing, Amy Price, director of development and communications for Front Steps, told Patch in a recent telephone interview. Tasked with the logistics of placing homeless people into shelters, Front Steps describes its mission as one providing "...a pathway home for our neighbors experiencing homelessness by offering emergency shelter, affordable housing, recuperative medical care, supportive services, and community awareness," according to its website.

Police alerted to the activation of cold weather shelters during freezing weather on Feb. 5.

Theories abound as to the downward trend of homeless people seeking shelter, but no clear-cut reason is known, Price acknowledged: "We don’t think it has anything to do with concerns about seeking services," she told Patch in a subsequent email.

"We are more inclined to think that camps might seem more secure/warmer this winter because of less frequent breakdown/move moments," she said, explaining the demolition of homeless camps has become less frequent. "So individuals may be riding out cold nights in campsites."

She ended her missive with a single-word conclusion: "Unknown."

In a follow-up, she provided more details about the 130 people housed during last week's cold weather shelters (CWS) activation. "We slept our 130 on Wednesday night, and there were between 75-100 men/women who arrived for CWS and were sheltered at off-site spaces," she wrote. "This has been a mild winter, and we have only had a handful of CWS nights. With so few data points, there are no trends per se, but we do think [the] numbers are down."

In the event of a cold weather shelter activation, homeless people traveling alone partake in a lottery to secure temporary lodging, according to protocol measures provided by Price. For women, such shelters invariably are churches within the community. Front Steps secures a city bus to transport many of the homeless people seeking shelter or walk them over to the shelters if they are within walking distance of their offices at 500 E. 7th St., Price explained.

Homeless men generally are placed at makeshift shelters at city recreation centers. Sometimes, Price said, recreation centers host activities as part of scheduled programming, delaying entry for the homeless until such events end by 9 p.m.

But lately, Price acknowledged, fewer have availed themselves of the resources. "One of the things we presume is a factor is that people are now more comfortable in terms of their camps," she said. "Their camps feel more secure, and they're motivated to stay in their camps. I don't know if their camps any warmer but it might be a semblance of that."

Seeking to decriminalize homelessness, the city last summer relaxed its rules dictating the behavior of those living on the streets. Laying down and sitting on public sidewalks was deemed acceptable after the rules revamping, and the loosened rules allowed for the pitching of tents as shelter.

But the well-intended measures had unforeseen results, as Mayor Steve Adler later explained at a press conference. The abundance of tents that dotted the landscape was at a level city council members had not envisioned, he acknowledged. Consequently, city officials all but rescinded that portion of their more relaxed ordinance while dispatching police to dismantle what amounted to tent cities that sprang up after passage of relaxed rules.

The most visible homeless encampment to be demolished was one that sprang up — and grew steadily — lining the block fronting the homeless shelter in downtown Austin. Patch first reported on plans to dismantle the tent-lined homeless community there, which occurred days later.

Gov. Greg Abbott also has figured prominently in discussion related to the homeless, emerging as a vocal critic of Austin's policies in dealing with the urban woe. The governor threatened the marshaling of state crews to help mitigate the scourge of homelessness if he perceived inaction on the part of city officials — a threat he later made good on by sending state crews to displace homeless people hunkering down under bridges and overpasses.

It's unclear if the governor's aversion to homelessness — and his moves to eradicate it in Austin — has had an impact on the seemingly lower numbers seeking shelter, but others seemingly have noticed the downward shelter-seeking trend.

In the midst of last week's freeze, a homeless intake volunteer provided an update on her efforts to assist the disenfranchised on the Oak Hill United Methodist Church Facbook page. "Have 50 guests tonight at this freeze shelter staffed by the Oak Hill Community Alliance," she wrote, defining the alliance as being comprised of area churches in southwest Austin. "I drove 10 persons from Sunrise Church to this freeze shelter in a van I got from the county motor pool," she added.

She shared Price's assessment that some people might opt to brave the cold at camps now shifted away from the central business district as a result of city and gubernatorial actions aimed at ameliorating the scourge — or at least lessening its visibility.

"Since it is only going to be cold and wet for one night this time, some folks are roughing it out in their tents tonight," the volunteer wrote. "If we had a harder freeze lasting for several days, this shelter would be overloaded," she calling for the need of a second freeze shelter in South Austin — specifically south of Ben White Boulevard between Menchaca Road and Interstate 35: "If your church is in the area, and might want to help with this project, let me know," she told her church counterparts.

It might be anecdotal evidence that provides a clearer picture explaining the trend seeing fewer homeless people seeking sanctioned shelter sites. Amid the din of debate and cacophony of critical voices, encampments seem to be getting larger and more elaborate in scope as homeless people retreat en masse, out of sight of the urban core.

Austin fire officials witnessed the scale of seemingly growing homeless encampments after being called to the site of a fire that broke out at one of the sites between Interstate 35 an Cameron Road: "The area is VERY congested," hardened fire officials wrote, utilizing capital letters to emphasize the point.

Reacting to news of the fire, the mayor at a subsequent city council meeting suggested the massive scale of the site was not a direct result of municipal ordinance — in any of its iterations: "I think it's important to note that that camp has been there for years," he said during the council session. "It's not the only camp like that that exists in our city. The ordinances didn't create any more people experiencing homelessness in our city. But I think that coming out of that conversation, especially this past week, I think more and more people are recognizing that there are people experiencing homelessness all over our city."

There are myriad factors leading to homelessness — mental illness, domestic violence, financial loss, youth running away from home, among others factors. Equally elusive an answer is the reason why fewer and fewer homeless people are taking to their own makeshift homes while braving the elements as debates about their plight continues unabated.