Austin's homeless population still growing

Even though the expenditure of millions of city and federal dollars, and the fact that Austin's efforts are frequently cited as best practices in other cities, homelessness is still on the rise here. According to new city data, the city of Austin saw a five percent increase in people experiencing homelessness between January of 2017 and 2018. On Jan. 27, the city conducted its annual "Point-In-Time" count to document the number of people who are unsheltered and homeless in Austin, counting people not just on the street but also in cars, tents, parks and under bridges. Those numbers were combined with the count of people staying in transitional housing. In total, they identified 2,147 people in Austin experiencing homelessness. Additionally, the number of people in 2019 sleeping unsheltered on the streets was 1,014 the highest of all the last 8 years. Ann Howard, who is executive director of the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, believes that the reason for the increase is not related to the fact that more people are moving to Austin, but because "crisis happens and housing is expensive, and what creates homelessness is a lack of affordable housing." Howard explained that we can sort of assign homework to the different parts of the community to get us all working together to make a difference. However, Howard said this plan will allow them to plan out necessary services, but they still don't have the funding to supply all the beds and services that are needed.

The number of people experiencing homelessness is increasing in Austin. In the past 10 years, a lack of affordable housing combined with inadequate funding of mental health service has left more and more on the streets. In downtown Austin, coming across a homeless person on every street corner is uncommon. I have seen many people who are living on the streets, living in unsafe, unclean situations. I think It is not just not right. I think one of the best ways to resolve this problem is housing. Because homelessness is fundamentally defined by lack of housing, housing is the essential foundation for ending homelessness. I think housing is healthcare. Housing is safety and security. Housing provides a stable Launchpad from which people can get and keep a job, address mental illness and substance use to take care of their health and nutrition, and find purposeful roles in the community. However, housing is expensive in Austin. If the Austin government do not resolve this problem, we can't make progress in solving the problems of the homeless. If we expect to end homelessness, we need a massive commitment to ensure affordable housing for all. Housing is a basic human right, without which people cannot lead stable, connected lives. If we expect to end homelessness, housing is the fundamental starting place.