AUSTIN, Texas — The City of Austin recently moved 72 people experiencing homelessness and approximately 15 pets from an encampment in the West Bouldin Creek area to the City-owned Southbridge shelter. The relocation was part of the City's Housing-Focused Encampment Assistance Link (HEAL) Initiative.
HEAL aims to close the encampments that "pose the highest public health and safety risk," according to the City. Preparation for this most recent closure included doubling capacity at the Southbridge shelter.
"It’s rose top of the acuity for a variety of reasons. This is a large encampment, one of the last largest central encampments that we have offered for compassionate closure," said Phil Leal, program manager with Austin Public Health's Homeless Strategy Division, which is involved with the HEAL initiative.
The West Bouldin Creek encampment has been formally declared closed, and a work zone has been designated while the cleanup process continues. The City said the clean-up effort is expected to take weeks and is being organized by the City's Parks and Recreation Department, with support from Austin Resource Recovery, the Austin Police Department (APD) and a private contractor.
The relocation comes after several people in the West Bouldin Creek neighborhood had concerns along the trail.
"One was safety. Another, it was unsanitary. And third was the amount of trash that was accumulated. There are residents that did not feel safe using the Greenbelt anymore," resident Ingrid Weigand said.
Leal said cleanup efforts will cost around $200,000.
At a Tuesday press conference on wildfire preparedness, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said closing encampments like this is one way to help protect people from wildfire danger.
"Our wildfire prevention teams are focused on these areas. In addition to that, our continued focus on providing more emergency shelter space means we've been able to move quickly on relocating people to shelters and have the space to do so in the event of a fire," Watson said.
Austin firefighters put out a brush fire they said started in a homeless encampment earlier this week. No one was hurt, and firefighters were able to get the fire under control quickly.
Since the HEAL Initiative began in June 2021, the City said 618 people have voluntarily moved from "high risk" encampments to the Southbridge and Northbridge shelters.
The City said the closure of the West Bouldin Creek encampment was a collaborative effort, with the Homeless Strategy Division working closely with the Homeless Outreach Street Team (HOST), the Parks and Recreation Department, Austin Resource Recovery, APD and other community partners.