AUSTIN (KXAN) — Alfredo Reyes Jr., now a leader at VOCAL-Texas, knows what it’s like to watch the seasons change and worry about finding a warm place to sleep. Reyes Jr. was homeless in Austin for more than seven years.
“Every day that I go to sleep now, I think about everybody that’s still waiting to get housing, trying to get into shelter and not being able to,” he said, standing outside of the VOCAL-Texas headquarters Monday. “People don’t realize how cold it is. Today, I’m standing out here for 20 minutes and I’m freezing. So just imagine that, staying outside and living outside.”
City of Austin to simplify activation process for cold weather shelters
For people in that position, the city of Austin opens overnight cold weather shelters when the projected low hits 35 degrees or below.
Last year, the city made significant changes to how it opened and operated those shelters, which you can read about here, and, after months of talks again with service providers and other city departments, there will be some additional changes this year…