Mayor Working to End Veteran Homelessness in Austin

NORTH AUSTIN-PFLUGERVILLE, TX - Mayor Steve Adler is working to find homes for about 200 homeless veterans by the new year.

The two major obstacles in finding homes for these veterans are the dwindling affordable housing options in Austin and the lack of landlords willing to accept city vouchers and offer rent below $800 a month, KXAN reported.

Despite these roadblocks, the mayor is pushing his initiative to end veteran homelessness.

“We also helped create the Housing Heroes Fund, which we initially slated to raise $150,000. We’ve raised over $350,000, which we’ve been able to use to provide support for veterans and create greater affordability so they can live and find permanent supportive housing here in Austin,” Adler’s Chief Service Officer, Sly Majid, told KXAN.

As of recently, there were still 100 veterans still looking for housing, but this number is down from the 250 homeless veterans reported at the beginning of the year. The Texas Homeless Network has also reported homelessness is down across Texas by 17 percent, KXAN reported.

The initiative has already helped get a number of homeless veterans get back on their feet. In January, Marine Corps. vet Gary Robinson was living out of his car. Now he has a roof over his head and is graduating from ACC to become an auto-technician.

“If I would have been homeless continuing out through my graduation I don’t know if I would have made it,” Robinson told KXAN.