With the cold weather season ahead one local organization is working to have additional housing online for people experiencing homelessness. The group -- The Other Ones Foundation -- wants to have 200 shelter units at a site it calls the Esperanza Community. Esperanza is the Spanish word for hope.
In the fall of 2019, Texas Governor Greg Abbott offered a shuttered TxDOT work yard in Southeast Austin as a sanctioned encampment for people experiencing homelessness.
In the beginning, the site offered little more than garages to get out of the cold. Today it's run by an organization called The Other Ones Foundation (T.O.O.F.) Their name comes from the people they serve, the other ones living on the fringes... unhoused.
T.O.O.F. tried to help with work opportunities, case management, housing navigation, and hygiene services. But now that they had a camp to operate, they knew they needed to improve the onsite housing.
They're now building transitional housing they call the Esperanza Community. Max Moscoe, communications director for T.O.O.F. says, “This is a place for people to come, get out from under the overpass, out of the woods, and into a place where they can find the traction they need to really succeed through our programming and go into stable housing off-site."
And that’s perfect for Angelo Diaz who had been homeless since leaving the military.
He told us, “Finally being indoors, finally having a door to lock where my stuff won't get stolen. So much sense of security that this place has provided."
But Diaz is far from alone. Currently, the Esperanza Community has about 50 people living in shelters and another 30 people in tents waiting their turn.
Moscoe says, “Our first priority is to get the people that are already on site out of the tents and into shelters."
The Other Ones Foundation is fundraising right now to complete the installation of 200 shelters planned for the Esperanza site. To learn how you can help, click here.