The Ending Community Homelessness Coalition (ECHO) is a group of non-profits that works to end homelessness in Austin. Every year, ECHO has a one-day homeless count event called “The Count” in Austin and Travis County. ECHO then produces a report through their Continuum of Care Subcommittee that gives statistics about homelessness in Austin. This is used for an annual application for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Grant (“SuperNOFA”). The following statistics come from the 2008 Continuum of Care (CoC) application:
Housing
Emergency Shelter Housing
- Year-round Individual Emergency Shelter Beds- 45
- 10 beds are reserved for domestic violence victims
- Year-round Family Emergency Shelter Beds- 247
- 80 beds are reserved for domestic violence victims
- Seasonal beds- 280
- Overflow & Voucher beds- 16
- Cold weather beds (provided by churches)- 245
Transitional Housing
- Year-Round Individual Housing Beds- 185
- 7 beds are reserved for domestic violence victims
- Year-Round Family Housing Beds- 397
- 92 beds are reserved for domestic violence victims
Permanent Housing Available
- Year-Round Individual Permanent Housing Beds- 305
- 0 beds are reserved for domestic violence victims
- Year-Round Family Permanent Housing Beds- 69
- 0 beds are reserved for domestic violence victims
Safe Haven (for those with Mental Illness) Beds
- Year-Round Individual Beds- 16
- 0 are for reserved domestic violence victims
Homeless Population
- Number of Homeless Households with Dependent Children- 160
- Where are they?
- 71 are in emergency shelters
- 80 in transitional housing
- 9 are unsheltered
- Total number of people in these households(adults & children)- 570
- Where are they?
- Number of Households without Dependent Children- 2,881
- Where are they?
- 609 are in emergency shelters
- 156 are in transitional housing
- 2116 are unsheltered
- Where are they?
- Total Number of Homeless People- 3451
Homeless Subpopulations
- Chronically Homeless- 919
- Sheltered- 242
- Unsheltered- 677
- Severely Mentally Ill- 662
- Sheltered- 323
- Unsheltered- 339
- Chronic Substance Abuse- 875
- Sheltered- 262
- Unsheltered- 613
- Veterans- 206
- Sheltered- 79
- Unsheltered- 127
- Persons with HIV/AIDS- 56
- Sheltered- 14
- Unsheltered- 42
- Victims of Domestic Violence- 390
- Sheltered- 284
- Unsheltered- 106
- Unaccompanied Youth (Under 18)- 91
- Sheltered- 28
- Unsheltered- 63
The non-profits that participated in the Continuum of Care application & provided these statistics:
Austin Travis County Mental Health Mental Retardation Center (ATCMHMRC)
Blackland Community Development Corporation
Central Texas Veterans Health Care System
Community Partnership for the Homeless (now Green Doors)
Keep Austin Housed, Americorps
Travis County Health & Human Services & Veterans Services
Travis County Housing Authority
Travis County Mental Health Public Defenders
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1 Permanent Housing Programs Fight Homelessness, Save Cities Money - Three Ninety Eight // Jun 29, 2010 at 2:53 pm
[...] According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, as of January 2008 there were 664,414 documented homeless individuals living in the United States. One can only imagine how much that number has increased over the past year and half with the job market crashing and home foreclosures on the rise. Tent cities are popping up left and right, more and more people are squatting in abandoned houses, and homeless shelters are overcrowded, but none of these are viable housing situations for the homeless. In Austin, TX the city council is discussing a move to provide permanent housing for 20 percent of the city’s homeless population, which as of 2009 was at greater than 3,450. [...]