AUSTIN, Texas — With the help from the City of Austin and some private donors, the Salvation Army’s newest shelter for homeless families is now a step closer to being fully funded operationally.
- Needs to raise $500,000 for new facility
- Will house parents and children, and provide services
- Salvation Army plans to move 50 families into the facility
Monday, city council members joined leaders of the Downtown Austin Alliance Foundation and local philanthropist Dick Rathgeber to announce the pledge. They are calling on the community to help them raise $500,000 towards the Salvation Army’s Rathgeber Center.
“Women and children need a safe place to be and someplace that nurtures the environment of young children and women,” Molly Alexander, executive director of the Downtown Austin Alliance Foundation said. “You see the school bus picking up children at the Salvation Army. It's just not the environment that nurtures children. We realize they're an important part of who we are downtown, and we want to make sure that they're in a great place.”
The 212-bed shelter in East Austin will serve parents and children living without a home by providing shelter and housing-case management. Those on-site support services include housing assistance, job skills training, childcare, therapy, and tutoring.
“Everyone knows about the homeless population, but a lot of times people aren't thinking about a mom and her children maybe living in a car or living under a bridge,” said Major Lewis Reckline of the Salvation Army. “We look at everything from the time they walk in the front door, health, nutrition, everything that they aren't getting out there in a car, and we will provide that for them here, step by step.”
The announcement comes the same week the Austin City Council is set to approve the upcoming budget, which could include a historic $62.7 million investment towards addressing homelessness.
Under the proposed budget, the city would fund $500,000 to increase case management services at the Salvation Army’s downtown shelter. The City Manager is also proposing to spend another $1 million for the start-up operations to open the Rathgeber Center.
Later this fall, Salvation Army officials plan to move 50 families from the downtown shelter to the Rathgeber Center. Then they will start helping families on the waitlist, which in August, there were 81 parents and their 169 children. However, even with the city’s proposed funding and the Downtown Austin Alliance’s pledge, there would still be a nearly $1 million dollar funding gap.
Chris Madden, Melissa Leach, and their six-month old son, Luca, have been living in the Salvation Army’s downtown shelter for the past three months. Madden said before his son was born, he and Leach would live in hotels if shelters were not available, or sometimes they would sleep on the streets. He said before arriving at the Salvation Army in Austin, they have struggled to find affordable housing.
“This place has actually helped us,” Madden said. “They treat you like a human being. They respect you. They talk to you nice.”
This week, the family will be placed into housing in North Austin, while they save money and look for better job opportunities. Madden said he wants to start his own business.
“It’s very comforting,” Madden said. “We’re not stressed out anymore. We’re happy that we have our own place, something we can call our own.”
For more information about how you can donate visit the Downtown Austin Alliance website.