SAN ANTONIO — The City of San Antonio is on track to complete more than 1,000 homeless encampment cleanups by the end of the year.
More than 500 abatements were performed between October 2023 and March 2024, according to the city’s online dashboard.
Dawn White-Fosdick, who president and CEO of Christian Assistance Ministry (CAM), stressed homeless encampment abatements are necessary for the safety of the community, however, fall short of addressing long-term solutions to help the houseless population.
That’s why the non-profit deploys its outreach team to sites across San Antonio in the days prior to the city-led cleanups.
“Those are staff that we’ve hired who have lived experience, meaning they themselves have experienced homelessness or they’ve overcome substance use,” White-Fosdick said. “Sometimes those abatements or cleanups of the encampments give us an opportunity to provide a better and safer, medical care, health care and housing for someone.”
The city’s online dashboard lists information on recurring encampment sites and a tentative abatement schedule, which includes locations.
On average, it takes nearly two weeks for the city to complete cleanups from the point of initial notification to wrapping up the abatement.
Between October 2023 and March 2024, the city’s homeless response system has led to securing shelter or housing for 751 people. More than 1,400 individuals became newly homeless or returned to the streets during the same period.
Advocates like Katie Wilson, executive director of Close to Home, continue to stress the importance of allocating funding for more affordable and services.
“The number of abatements is not really what we’re focused on as far as our strategic planning for homelessness and the reason for that is that it’s to mitigate an issue in a neighborhood, it’s not ultimately to solve the problem of homelessness,” Wilson said. “So continuing to work on affordable housing options and have services on site if they need support with managing mental or physical health conditions.”
In April, SAMMinistries secured final funding for a 200-unit apartment complex called the Commons at Acequia Trails, marking the non-profits second site of permanent supportive housing in San Antonio.
Residents are expected to be welcomed in 2026.