Austin Invests $8 Million In New Family Violence Shelter

Austin TX

20 May, 2021

1:20 PM

Description

AUSTIN, TX — Austin City Council has approved the city's first large-scale investment in a new family violence shelter for the first time in 20 years. The council approved an $8.1 million investment Thursday into a shelter that will offer a larger number of new, scattered beds and services to survivors in various situations. Following the council's approval of Item #16, city staff will execute an agreement with the SAFE Alliance, or Stop Abuse for Everyone, a nonprofit centered on abuse support and prevention services, to manage the Austin-owned family violence shelter and provide supportive services, housing assistance, and direct client assistance. The shelter, once chosen and renovated using City funds, will double SAFE's current capacity, officials said. Today, we approved a public safety investment in a new family violence shelter for #ATX. Many Austinites are waiting on shelter beds even though they are in dangerous & abusive situations. This vote will allow vulnerable people to get to safety & care.https://t.co/qZWXfwlCYN— Gregorio Casar (@GregCasar) May 20, 2021 "One of the largest drivers of violence in our city is family violence," said Austin City Council Member Greg Casar. "We will reduce this violence by doubling our amount of family violence shelter. Many Austinites are on waitlists right now, still waiting on shelter beds even though they are in dangerous and abusive situations. This vote will allow vulnerable people to get to safety and care. By taking a hard look at our police budget last year, we were able to find funds that could be moved toward public safety solutions like this, so that we are not only responding to harm but also preventing it in the first place." The original resolution to create the new family violence shelter was adopted in June 2020, sponsored by Greg Casar and co-sponsored by Delia Garza, Natasha Harper-Madison, Ann Kitchen, Paige Ellis, and Alison Alter. The approval of the resolution directed City Manager Spencer Cronk to research the acquisition of a hotel site for use as a family violence shelter. Council followed that action by redirecting funds from the Austin Police Department to the project in a fiscal year 2020-21 budget amendment ahead of SAFE's possible selection as manager of the shelter initiative this month. Council members noted that, while focused specifically on domestic violence and abuse, the shelter plan is a component of the city's reimagining public safety and homelessness mitigation processes as well. Casar also said the program would not affect existing homelessness services, even amid the renovation of a Pro-Lodge that is now in use. "In any and all cases, we will make sure that if it's a hotel that currently has folks experiencing homelessness, that those folks will have another hotel for them," he said. "There is no way that we are decreasing that service, we are only continuing to help more and more folks experiencing homelessness while also addressing this need. We will not be picking one over the other."