Austin has 1 shelter bed for every 5 people experiencing homelessness, city says

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Outside of the ARCH downtown, a shelter run by Urban Alchemy, people coming and going say finding a bed at one of our city's homeless shelters is increasingly difficult.

"Cost of living is pushing the poor people like myself out onto the streets," Matthew, who is staying at the shelter, said. "It's still not easy to get into some of the facilities because like I said it's crowded."

That's something the City of Austin's Homeless Strategy Division told Austin City Council Tuesday is a problem it's seeing citywide. The city said the average stay in a shelter is nearly four months and that Austin only has one bed for every five people experiencing homelessness.

"In our experience, particularly in the city-operated bridge shelters, we have seen that timeline extend because the housing search is so difficult," said Dianna Grey, the homeless strategy officer for the City of Austin.

There aren't enough shelter beds for single people without children, Grey reported. The city estimates there are around 400 of those beds available right now of the nearly 900 total. A previous study showed the city would need roughly 1,400 beds for single people experiencing homelessness by 2025.

"So what that means is if we need 1,428 beds for single individuals, and we've got 466 right now, that gives us a gap of almost 1,000 beds," Grey said.

The city's hoping to get there. It has several projects underway to up the number of beds available including doubling capacity and the Northbridge and Southbridge shelters, which is nearly complete, Grey said. It is also working with nonprofits to open up 150 beds at the Salvation Army downtown location and 300 at the Marshalling Yard.

But leaders said they also recognize there are parts of town without easy access to shelter.

"South Austin is feeling this hard… In every conversation I have with somebody down there, this issue comes up," council member Ryan Alter said.