A nearly monthlong homeless encampment cleanup effort in Texas’ capital city resulted in more than 300 tons’ worth of debris removed from area sites.
That’s according to an operational report publicized on Monday, July 6 by the Austin Homeless Strategies and Operations division, which outlined a unified effort between its Homeless Encampment Management (HEM) and Street and Community Outreach (SCO) initiatives between early May and early June. Running from May 11 through June 5, teams visited 127 individual encampment sites across Austin, with 456 total visits made when accounting for repeat stops.
From those 456 total visits, crews removed a whooping 669,368 pounds’ worth of debris, or 303.62 tons. Within those same outreach efforts, crews connected 35 people experiencing homelessness to city shelter services and provided supportive services connections to nine individuals who had denied shelter access…