SAN ANTONIO — A Monday night town hall organized by District 4 City Councilwoman Adriana Rocha-Garcia dives into San Antonio's ongoing response to homelessness.
“I think that’s the spirit of San Antonio. It’s the spirit of compassion. It’s all about how to help one another,” Rocha-Garcia said.
More than 3,100 people were experiencing homelessness throughout San Antonio and Bexar County, according to the 2023 Point-in-Time Count. While this marked a 5% increase from the 2022 count, there was a 16% decrease in those enduring unsheltered homelessness.
Rocha-Garcia stressed the town hall provides an opportunity for community partners to unite and educate residents about the city’s homelessness response strategy. It’s also a time to hear out residential concerns regarding safety aspects linked to the houseless population.
“We want to be able to have this discussion of understanding one, how people get there, but two also what the city is doing to make sure that they get help and also taking care of the neighborhoods, making sure that we protect our neighbors and listen to them as they tell us that maybe they’re seeing encampments increase,” Rocha-Garcia said.
Haven for Hope is one of the primary organizations that’s served residents experiencing homelessness, providing on-site services, including shelter and guiding them to secure housing.
“We are the only shelter in the community that never turns a family away,” said Haven for Hope President and CEO Kim Jefferies.
Haven for Hope has been seeing an uptick in 18-24 year olds and families seeking assistance, which Jefferies attributes to a variety of economic impacts.
“We need more prevention dollars. We need to make sure families aren’t falling into homelessness so they don’t end up at Haven and we need to look at expanding shelter access in this community, particularly for families,” Jefferies said.
Town hall attendees are expected to learn how their tax dollars aim to help the homeless through funds approved through the fiscal year 2024 budget. Funds range from increasing the number of encampment cleanups to offering financial assistance to prevent homelessness to supplying more resources to conduct outreach efforts.
Corazon Ministries is among the coalition of community partners going out on the streets to provide resources to the men and women who lack stable housing. Erika Barrego, Corazon Ministries president and CEO, urges residents to consider attending these types of public meetings so they can gain a better understanding surrounding the ongoing efforts to assist the homeless.
“Corazon Ministries is all about helping people who are on the streets right now. It’s a collaboration of all of our partners and the types of services and housing options we can provide to get folks housed as quickly as possible.”
The public meeting is scheduled from 6- 8 p.m. at New Life Christian Center.