Vocal Texas calls on city of Austin to provide better resources, affordable housing for homeless

AUSTIN, Texas - Vocal Texas is calling on the city of Austin to provide better resources and affordable housing for the homeless.

The nonprofit has started a petition and so far has collected hundreds of signatures.

Downtown Austin rally

What we know:

Vocal Texas was joined by a group of homeless individuals at a rally in downtown Austin. 

Those gathered were "vocal" about their concern about affordable housing in Austin and the many roadblocks those seeking shelter face.

What they're saying:

" I came to stay with a family member that didn't work out, went to the streets and was looking for resources in the city. I heard it was a great city, and ran into so many roadblocks along the way ", said Maurika Smith.

Smith is currently homeless with a master’s degree and says being homeless is a difficult cycle to get out of.

"People think, oh, being homeless, oh you should be, okay, you don't have any bills, you don' have anything to worry about, you can go work. You know, I have all my limbs, they all work, I should be able to go find a job. I have degrees. Well, it's not that easy. You need stability. And what provides stability? Having a home," said Smith.

New city collaboration

Dig deeper:

This month, the City of Austin’s Homeless Strategy Office announced a collaboration with the nonprofit organization Housing Connector to match those in need with vacant homes. 

This comes after the city received nearly $2 million in funding last year.

READ MORE

• City of Austin prioritizing funding for homeless response
• Proposed Texas law would crack down on cities not enforcing state homeless camping ban
• Marshalling Yard temporary shelter funded through September 2025

A portion of those funds are also being used for the Housing Barrier Reduction Program, which offers financial support to those that earn less than $21,000 a year.

In October, the Homeless Strategy Office reported that there are close to 6,600 homeless people in the City of Austin.

What they're saying:

Vocal Texas co-director Paulette Soltani argues more needs to be done.

"There was a recent study that came out. In the last month that highlighted that Austin was kind of leading the nation in developing affordable housing. And what folks here in our space talked about was that they aren't seeing any of those units," said Soltani.

"A lot of people can't even get through the door to a housing application because criminal histories block them from even having that opportunity and so we're hoping to work with the city to ensure that there's an improvement," Soltani added.

What's next:

Vocal Texas has created a petition aiming to bring the numbers of homeless persons in Austin down.

"We have over 500 petition signatures right now of people who are unhoused, who are impacted by this criminal history issue and also by the lack of affordable housing. We'll be delivering that petition to our city leaders soon and continuing to push forward to find the policy solutions that we know the city can be responsible for," said Soltani.

The organization plans to present their petition to the city by May.