The overview
In early June, the nonprofit organization, a former private campground that was repurposed into a shelter for individuals experiencing homelessness, cited a recent lack of reliable funding.
Although founder Josiah Ingalls and his family have largely funded operations over the last four years, Ingalls said they have refinanced their home, put themselves into debt, and spent their entire life savings to build and maintain the cost of the shelter.
“My family and I have sacrificed our once financially secure future in exchange to do God’s work,” he said. “Now, we need a miracle.”
The impact
Camp Haven Sanctuary, one of two shelters in Bastrop County, can now only afford to take an individual in if they have a sponsor or can sponsor themselves. This system is expected to be in place until grants and government funding can be secured.
“We do not like moving to this system because it gives an unfair advantage to individuals experiencing homelessness that have an income,” Camp Haven Sanctuary said in a statement posted to social media in early June. “However, given this situation, this is the only option to keep the shelter open at some capacity.”
Camp Haven Sanctuary is run purely by volunteers, who also help with casework, provide peer-to-peer support, offer rides to doctor appointments and source food for the shelter.
The options
Although an application for $57,000 in grant funding from Bastrop County was recently submitted, it is largely dependent on whether there is enough community support, Ingalls said.
“Please call or email your representative on the Bastrop County Commissioners Court,” Camp Haven Sanctuary officials said in a statement in early July. “Let them know that funding Camp Haven Sanctuary is a priority to you, and that you believe it is an essential service for the county.”
Camp Haven officials stressed how keeping the homeless population off the streets and in shelters can help reduce negative economic impacts and make Bastrop County more attractive to prospective businesses.
“If the grant funding, which covers one year of operations, is approved, it’ll get put into the Bastrop County budget,” Ingalls told Community Impact. “So we probably won’t see any funding till 2026.”
He expects the Bastrop County Commissioners Court to have a decision sometime in September.
