AUSTIN, Texas — South Austin residents continue to deal with frustrations related to people experiencing homelessness.
While the Austin City Council works to make good on their plans for relief into the 2024-25 budget, one mother is frustrated by the needles and trash scattered just feet away from her son's elementary school.
Ashley Hammock said her 5-year-old son goes to Joslin Elementary, which is next to a neighborhood park.
"I've found exposed needles with the tip on at the playground, shoved up underneath the wood," Hammock said. "So my son's not allowed to play here anymore, and it's really sad. I've had to teach him what a needle is. You don't wanna teach your 5-year-old that kind of stuff."
On Monday, Hammock got tired of walking past the trash every day to get her son. She said it's left behind by the people experiencing homelessness that stay at the park – so she cleaned up.
"I had two trash bags, but it ended up being a lot more than that," Hammock said.
She found needles, Narcan, other random items and what she thought was human feces, but she left that there.
"That's a smell you don't want to smell," Hammock said.
For years, the city has been working to remove homeless camps in the South Austin neighborhood. However, the only Homeless Navigation Center that provides special resources is located right across the street from the school.
"It's totally unfair to the neighborhood that they're the only operator doing this in the entire city. That is just too much pressure on this one area," District 5 Councilmember Ryan Alter said. "The location is really not an ideal or appropriate spot for those services given its proximity to the elementary school ... to a park."
Alter was able to secure some changes for the area in the 2024-25 budget. His amendment to the budget directed the city manager to locate two new navigation center locations. They plan to eventually no longer use the Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center location.
"We have some ideas, and I've been talking with city staff about going out and taking a look at these potential sites and figuring out if they meet the need," Alter said. "We are going to be acting with as much speed as possible to identify them and, ultimately, go through the process of acquiring and standing up these operations."
However, Alter said there is currently no timeline for when the two centers will be up and running.
"It's got to stop," Hammock said. "For the sake of the children."