SOURCE: COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Jeffrey Adler sits in the shade of a tree outside the Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center on Manchaca Road one Thursday in late July. The weekday services offered by the nonprofit have provided a tether for Adler, who has been on the streets and constantly on the move for years.
“I’m outdoors, completely,” Adler says. “I’ve got a little tent under the bridge. I’ve been moving back and forth. It depends on which cop’s on duty, sometimes. And every move means you’re gonna lose some of your stuff.”
Over on the first floor of downtown’s Austin Resource Center for the Homeless, Philip Buchanan, 51, arrives right at noon to work a custodial shift and meet with his case manager. Homeless for most of his life, Buchanan has slept in the ARCH every night since December 2018 while slowly moving up the overcrowded waitlist for public housing.
Right outside the shelter, Tommy Jackson, 32, tries to stay within the shallow, midday shadow of the building as he searches for a cigarette light. Jackson said he’s been trying to get into case management, but has had no luck. Although he chooses to live outside, he tries to remain in close proximity to the shelter.
“It’s more convenient to sleep out here,” Jackson said, motioning to the crowded sidewalk. “We feel connected. It’s like a community.”
Such situations are becoming more common in the capital city. Austin’s homeless population is growing, and more people, like Adler, Buchanan and Jackson, are staying homeless longer, leading to a public outcry and a deepening health crisis among the city’s most vulnerable residents, experts said.