AUSTIN, Texas — On Wednesday, Austin's homeless strategy officer laid out a plan to wind down operations at the city's Marshalling Yard Temporary Emergency Shelter.
Since July of last year, the warehouse has provided a place to stay and resources for people experiencing homelessness.
The city's homeless strategy officer said on Sept. 1, the Marshalling Yard will start limiting intakes to clients who have a verified housing resource. That may mean they have a housing voucher and are waiting for a unit to become available, or outreach teams might be trying to reconnect them with family that they can stay with.
On Dec. 1, they'll stop all new intakes, and the Marshalling Yard will close at the end of next March. Then, the Austin Convention Center will be able to use it for storage again.
Homeless Strategy Officer David Gray hopes this approach ensures nobody returns to living on the streets.
“Our ultimate goal is that no one is returning to unsheltered and unhoused homelessness,” he said. “That is not why we are here. Our goal is to pull people out of an unsheltered environment. Once you're in our care, our sole purpose is to make sure that you get housed, so there will not be a mass exodus of people back into encampments, on the streets, or in our parks or in creekside waterways.”
City employees say they're looking for an alternative to the Marshalling Yard. They've looked into other city facilities, vacant land and the private real estate market. But so far, they have not been able to find one.
"We're committed to doing our best to try to find a replacement," said Gray. "We're committed to leaving no stone unturned. At this point, though, we have been unsuccessful in that pursuit."
As of the beginning of May, the Marshalling Yard has served more than 755 clients.