Homelessness has been a broad and highly debated local issue for years, especially in recent years as Austin has seen a resurgence of the homeless population.  

Homelessness Affects All of Us
It impacts the availability of healthcare resources, crime and safety, the workforce, and the use of tax dollars. Further, homelessness impacts the present as well as the future. 

As a newly moved-in resident in Austin, I have seen many homeless people walking the streets of our city. According to a recent article from the New York Times, Austin is ranked top 5 city with the most homelessness. If we don't do anything the numbers will only increase.  Instead of facing the problem, Austin's City Council is just trying to run away from it. 

Texas Governor, Greg Abbott signed a state-wide camping ban in July 2021, initiated later that year in September. Under this ban, people experiencing homelessness can face fines up to $500 and could be charged with a Class C Misdemeanor. The government spent $68.7 million toward homeless aid, but much of this money was dedicated to short-term solutions, like emergency shelters rather than semi-permanent ones. This can lead to citizens believing that the homeless receive adequate aid.

Problem:

 - There are over 400 people on a waitlist to get into Salvation Army’s shelters and only 822 beds in Austin homeless shelters right now, which just isn’t enough for over 2,000 people. In 2017 alone, 117 people were turned down from shelters. Rather than putting so much effort into an ordinance, we should be trying to solve the root of the problem, which is the shelters. 

Solution: 

Providing proper shelters would prevent homeless people from having to camp under highways. We need to build more shelters, find more volunteers to work at them and donate more towards maintaining the shelters. The only way to solve this issue is if we all pitch in and collaborate. We shouldn’t simply let the government deal with this problem alone. As citizens, we should all take a stand and fulfill our responsibility in society to make sure everyone can live a happy life.

Instead of further restricting the homeless and refusing to sympathize with them, we should all pay more attention to this crisis which is in dire need of a solution. The solution to getting homeless people off the streets shouldn’t be about coming up with ordinances to forcibly kick them out. It should be focused on helping them find better shelter and better living conditions. It should be about finding them the better life they deserve. It benefits all of us to break the cycle of homelessness, one person, one family at a time.