AUSTIN, Texas — An estimated 27,000 people are without homes across the state of Texas on any given night. It’s become more visible in some parts of the state as well. That’s one of the reasons Gov. Greg Abbott is making solutions to homelessness a priority this legislative session. Several bills have been filed to help get people off the streets, and into homes.

It’s an issue Kevin Ludlow knows is complicated. For the past year – a homeless camp has grown in his backyard. He says it's created a constant anxiety for many in his East Austin neighborhood. They’ve recently built fences and many also installed spotlights.

“There's just so much petty theft, it just gets frustrating. The city told us the lights are one of the more useful things for trying to keep people at bay,” said Kevin Ludlow.

Ludlow says he has compassion for those who need help. He says it’s the bad actors within the camps and the criminal activity that bothers him.

"They know exactly what the line is that they can get away with. They rob somebody's house, whether they get caught or not is irrelevant, they're just going to flee back into the camp and nobody's going to go after them in the camp so that's the issue," said Ludlow.

Homelessness has become a lot more visible across the City of Austin – in part because city leaders lifted a ban on camping.

"We're having these conversations because homelessness is so visible," said Eric Samuels Texas Homeless Network President and CEO.

The Texas Homeless Network's goal is to help make homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring. This session, Gov. Abbott is tying state funds to curb homelessness — to whether a city bans camping.

"Adding a camping ban or fining someone or further criminalizing someone for falling into homelessness is another barrier that we're adding to their journey back into housing," said Nick Thompson from the Statewide Initiatives Manager for the Texas Homeless Network.

The governor is recommending funding for a data-sharing network to connect homeless response systems across the state. It includes Austin as well as cities like Dallas and San Antonio which are also experiencing upticks in people experiencing homelessness.

“That's something we're fully in support of. We really appreciate the governor's support on that, that's something our agency has been piloting for the last year,” said Samuels.

Ludlow doesn't want to criminalize people who've fallen on hard times, but wants authorities to address those who are doing criminal acts within the camps.  

While everyone has their own reasons for wanting to end the sea of tents that have popped up across the city, advocates hope the increased visibility will pull people together to find solutions.   

Housing is the Texas Homeless Network’s main focus. There’s several bills that would curb income discrimination that were filed this session. They say especially as we’re pulling out of the pandemic, it’s important that voucher holders won’t be discriminated against by their landlords.