Austin’s homeless population struggles to stay safe in arctic blast

AUSTIN, Texas - Austin’s homeless population struggled to keep warm as temperatures dropped below freezing Thursday. 

"It’s horrible. I don't wish anybody to have to do what I'm doing," said 54-year-old Joe King as he walked out of the Angel House Soup Kitchen on East Cesar Chavez. 

He opened his bag, "I’ve got a cap and gloves. Socks. I've got plenty of socks, as you see… They give us whatever gets donated." 

King said a felony conviction at age 17 derailed his life. 

"When you haven't lived a perfect life, people pretty well don't really care about you," he said. 

He told FOX 7 Austin he considers himself lucky, he has a car to sleep in. However, the heater is broken. 

"Warmer than outside, but it's cold to me," he said. 

His friend brought a camp stove to his vehicle Thursday evening. The pair said they were worried about starting a fire. 

Nearby, under the I-35 overpass 34-year-old Christopher Brown shivered under a blanket. He told FOX 7 Austin he has been homeless since his grandmother died.

Austin-Travis County EMS Captain Christa Stedman said Community Health Paramedics spent the week checking up on homeless Austinites like Brown and King.

"They've been passing out blankets. They’ve been passing out water. They’ve been passing out the information to our warming centers," she said. 

Capital Metro is providing free rides to warming centers and shelters this week.

"I haven't heard anything about it really," Brown said. 

This week, members of City Council, the Austin Firefighters and EMS Unions criticized the City’s delayed release of cold weather plans.

"We don't get local news except for, like, a week late," said King. 

He told FOX 7 Austin he believed the delay may be deadly.

"You just don’t walk, you die."

On Thursday, ATCEMS up-staffed. Their Integrated Services Team, which oversees Community Health Paramedics had 33 personnel, 22 of which were Community Health Paramedics.