On a January afternoon, Pam Reynolds pushed her wheelchair across the pavement of a Texas Department of Transportation facility in Austin that Gov. Greg Abbott turned into a temporary shelter for people experiencing homelessness. She was flanked by a black Labrador puppy and her tent neighbor, Amy, who was carrying rain-soaked blankets that were still dripping.
Reynolds said she slept on the soaked sheets for three nights before someone helped her exchange them for a dry set from another resident. Before Abbott and state officials transformed the facility into a shelter, Reynolds lived in the concrete underbelly of State Highway 183 in the state’s capital.
“I’ve been beaten up, nearly raped, except I fought for my life,” Reynolds said.