AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Austin's Homeless Outreach Street Team has helped about 120 people experiencing homelessness move out of encampments in the past few months, along with serving nearly another 800 individuals in the downtown area, city officials highlighted Tuesday.
The HOST team, which is made up of paramedics, police officers, mental health specialists, and case managers, has been instrumental in the City's HEAL Initiative - part of an effort to clean up four encampment sites deemed to be dangerous across the city.
The effort is a collaboration between Austin Police, Austin-Travis County EMS, Integral Care, and the Downtown Austin Community Court, along with Austin Resource Recovery, Austin Parks and Recreation, and community partners including The Other Ones Foundation, Capital Metro, and Family Eldercare.
Since April, three of the four HEAL sites have been cleaned up, with roughly 120 individuals being moved into the city's two active bridge shelter facilities.
After arriving at the two City shelters, individuals are connected to a case manager to receive the support they need to apply for, secure and stabilize in housing. The HOST team also assists individuals with housing placement, medication and medical treatment, mental health and substance abuse services, employment and legal assistance, and connecting people to transportation.
“We are doing all that we can to support efforts like HEAL that take a comprehensive approach to addressing a critical, community-wide need,” said Assistant Chief Andy Hofmeister, who leads HOST through his role with the Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services. “It is a community-wide challenge right now, as crisis shelter capacity is full.”