FOX 7 Discussion: Salvation Army of Austin opens new East Austin homeless shelter

AUSTIN, Texas - On Wednesday, The Salvation Army of Austin started moving several homeless families from its downtown shelter into its new Rathgeber Center in East Austin.

The downtown shelter currently has 55 beds for families, but the new location has 212 beds for families: 120 for emergency and 92 for extended-stay. It will allow the Salvation Army to convert its downtown location into a shelter for single adults.

RELATED: Salvation Army of Austin to open new 212-bed Rathgeber Center Wednesday

All this expansion comes while the charity had a big waitlist in January with a total of 234 people, which included dozens of families and dozens of single adults.

The Salvation Army of Austin area commander Major Lewis Reckline joins Marcel Clarke to discuss their new East Austin homeless shelter which has begun welcoming its first families.