AUSTIN, Texas —
Resources for people experiencing homelessness will be on display Tuesday evening at Austin City Hall.
A community showcase event will celebrate a diverse group of nonprofits that were part of what's being called the Homeless Services Organizational Capacity Building Initiative. It's essentially a program to help the nonprofits serve more people.
These organizations who help people experiencing homelessness received training for technical help and grants up to $45,000.
“A lot of them were just formalized organizational structures, you know, appointed boards, got more robust accounting software reader in their websites. That's in addition to a lot of the direct service investment that they've put in place," said Daniel Culotta, Austin’s interim chief innovation officer. "One group bought a new trailer to help bring their hygiene and laundry services to different places in the city. Whereas before, they have like, loaded their personal cars up with this stuff. So it just makes it so much more deployable and so quick.”
The event will be put on by Austin's Homeless Strategy Division and Innovation Office, along with the Blue Sky Partners.
While Tuesday's event won't be a direct way for people who are unhoused to get assistance, it will be a way for the organizations that went through the program to show the work they've done and make valuable community connections.
Culotta said the event will be a great way to spotlight these smaller organizations that are trying to do bigger things.
"To show that the City is really, really invested in building this community and this ecosystem of practice. We know that we can't do everything, and we shouldn't do everything. But we all have a stake in helping our unhoused neighbors get to places with stability and in getting housed," Culotta said.
Each nonprofit will have a display table to share what they do, how they help people, how they partner with other organizations and how those who attend can partner with them.
The nonprofits that will be featured include ones that provide laundry services and that help those recently released from incarceration and youth coming out of foster care, as well as offering other resources – none of which directly provide permanent housing but help in other ways.
"I think the important point there is that there's such an important ecosystem and web of services that really helps our neighbors stabilize and move out of homelessness, that is in addition to the housing piece. And that's what a lot of these organizations focus on," Culotta said.
Separately from Tuesday's event, the Homeless Strategy Division and Innovation Office does have pop-up resource events once a month. You can visit this website for more information.
Tuesday's event will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Austin City Hall. You can register online for free.