AUSTIN (KXAN) — Dozens of people lined up around Sunrise Community Church in south Austin Monday, with lead director Mark Hilbelink walking through the crowd, saying hello to those he passed. Serving as lead pastor for 11 years and as director of Sunrise’s homeless navigation center for six, once unfamiliar faces have since become regulars.
When Austin voters approved Proposition B on May 1 and opted to reinstate the city’s camping ban, Hilbelink said he wasn’t surprised. The writing had been on the walls for months, if not years, he said; the shock was that it wasn’t passed by a higher margin.
“Everybody wants to say, well, it’s all criminalization or it’s no criminalization. Everybody’s just all or nothing about the whole conversation,” he said. “And the people who lose are the people that are on the streets. And those are the people that are not having the conversation.”
Sunrise adopted an integrated approach toward addressing issues facing those without housing — a concept Hilbelink referred to as a one-stop shop for people to access food, clothing, shelter, medical care and mental health resources.
Outside of its in-house food and clothing distributions and housing assistance programs, Sunrise partnered with Integral Care to provide on-site mental health support and CommUnityCare for a physical healthcare clinic. He pointed to city programs like San Antonio’s strategic homelessness response plans as means of consolidating resources to enhance their success and accessibility.
“Being homeless, you’re getting shot down before you even have a chance.”
HOLLY EDWARDS, SPENT 19 YEARS ON THE STREETS OF AUSTIN
Holly Edwards spent 22 years living on the streets, 19 of which were spent in Austin. Disowned by her family, she said she was left with nothing and no means of finding adequate housing or employment opportunities.
For about eight years, she has been working with Sunrise to access necessary health and living resources. Sunrise helped place her in her apartment, covering rent for her as she paid for the remaining utility costs.
The biggest misconception facing those experiencing homelessness is the misnomer that all prefer to live on the streets, she said. While Edwards said she agreed with aspects of the ban — specifically that people living near intersections or highways endangered themselves and others — she added the ban does not encompass the nuances of why people are homeless and how best to care for them.