Brown was one of a handful of formerly homeless individuals who voiced a need for more support at a homelessness panel hosted by The Get Up, an organization whose mission is to “educate and inspire a community of empowered individuals,” according to co-founder Sarah Miller.
Almost 300 individuals attended the panel Wednesday night at Cheer Up Charlies. Moderated by Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo, the panel featured four speakers—Bill Brice of the Downtown Austin Alliance; Gage Kemp, president of Austin Youth Collective to End Homelessness; Erin Whelan, division director for Housing and Homeless Services at LifeWorks; and Darcy Rendon, grant coordinator for Front Steps.
Across the board, each panelist said the private sector needs to be more involved in efforts to end homelessness. Tovo, who represents District 9, said her Central Austin council district has the highest rate of homelessness in Austin. She stressed the need for more partnerships between the city and private businesses to address the issue.
Tovo cited several examples of successful partnerships, the largest being the Austin Homeless Veteran Initiative, which received support from the Austin Apartment Association, the Real Estate Council of Austin, the Salvation Army and other organizations. The initiative housed 600 veterans in 18 months.
Throughout the event, the speakers remained positive about the work being done to end homelessness in Austin. Tovo said the Point In Time Count conducted by the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, or ECHO–a nonprofit group in which she serves as chair–estimated there’s been a general decrease in homelessness, but increase in the city center.
While there’s been a 50 percent increase in unsheltered homelessness in downtown Austin, Brice pointed out that trends overall have mostly remained flat despite the decrease in housing affordability.
“I think we can assume a lot of what we’re doing is working,” he said.
Panelists also pointed to successes in their own organizations. In a 100-day challenge at LifeWorks, Whelan said the company was able to house 53 homeless youths. Front Steps said they recently reduced chronic homelessness by 28 percent and permanently housed 28 people. Rendon stressed the need to continue to share success stories to inspire hope for local businesses.
Kemp, who spent five years intermittently homeless, said he is evidence of the value each individual has in helping others. He noted the stark contrast of the helplessness he felt before finding LifeWorks to the inspiration and drive he feels now.
“I allowed the world to break me, but we can fix each other,” he said.
After Brown shared her testimony during the Q&A portion of the event, she asked who to contact–aside from Austin City Council–to start affecting change. Tovo told her the most important thing she can do is continue to share her testimony, because personal stories inspire others to get involved. Tovo said hearing testimonies like Brown’s inspired Hotel Indigo to pledge to fund a Front Steps caseworker for the next year at a recent Downtown Austin Alliance meeting.
Miller emphasized at the end of the event that the panel was just the first step in their efforts to help decrease homelessness in Austin.
“I know that there’s 110 million other things you could be doing in this amazing city that we live in,” Miller said. “But you’re here. Look at all these people out here supporting this amazing cause.”
Check out live-tweets from the event below.
