Downtown Austin Salvation Army shelter extends operations 30 more days

The Salvation Army downtown Austin shelter will stay open for an additional 30 days, delaying its closure to mid-April.  The shelter was set to close March 15.

Austin city officials and the local advisory board of The Salvation Army Austin Area Command met Friday to negotiate delaying the closure. City leaders said the agreement will extend the downtown shelter’s operations for up to 30 days. The extension will cost up to $100,000 and will be funded by the city of Austin.

This comes just days after City Council members, during a Public Health Committee meeting Wednesday, expressed concern about the shelter closing before its remaining residents could find a place to live.

Mayor Kirk Watson met with the group in mid-January, who informed him that it had planned to announce the closure of the shelter on Feb. 1.

But Watson asked for a two-week delay to give the city time to figure out how to keep the facility open during the sale process, but they were not able to reach an agreement.

On Friday, an agreement was finally reached.

"The Salvation Army is grateful the City of Austin has partnered with them to continue to serve clients at their Downtown Shelter," shelter officials said.

Salvation Army Maj. Lewis Reckline, who runs the shelter with his wife, Jacqulyn, said last month that the downtown facility is aging and in disrepair. And despite efforts to improve, Reckline said it was no longer tenable to continue investing in the necessary infrastructure.

More:Dozens of Salvation Army clients still unsure what's next when shelter closes next week

In a January 2020 letter to city leaders, Reckline said that the size and scope of these challenges have multiplied exponentially.

The shelter has provided the largest portion of homeless support services downtown since the early 1980s, Reckline said. It has served 250 women, men and families with young children daily, and has been at the core of homeless services efforts in Austin.

But the need for help has escalated in recent years, which was exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic on top of the rising cost of living and limited affordable housing options in Austin.

“As the need for homeless shelter and services has literally exploded in recent years, it became clear that housing women and children at the Downtown shelter was dangerous and unsustainable,” Reckline said.

More:'No place to go': Salvation Army closure strains Austin's under-resourced homeless population

He said that is what prompted the organization to raise $20 million to develop the Rathgeber Center in East Austin. The facility houses women, children and families specifically.

But because the needs have grown so much and the operational funding has been stagnant, Reckline said the organization can no longer fund operations and programs at the Rathgeber and downtown facilities.

Operational funding for each shelter is about $5 million annually.

The shelter is funded through private and public donors, including the city of Austin.

According to city documents, Austin has traditionally given $600,000 annually to the organization. But in 2023, the city bumped that to $1 million with the help of federal and state coronavirus recovery funds.

Even though the remainder of the funds are given by donors, Reckline said the organization is still falling short.

There were about 100 residents living at the facility in February, down from the more than 240 who were being housed there before the pandemic. And Reckline had previously said the group would relocate all its clients so they do not end up unsheltered.

He said the organization had been working to relocate residents to other facilities around town and some were placed with family members. Others were offered beds in sister facilities in Dallas. But at least 10 have left without any relocation housing, which residents have said was due to their fear of being evicted.

There were at least 48 people still living at the facility on Friday.

"The Salvation Army will continue to safely exit clients at the downtown shelter as client plans finalize now and through the upcoming weeks, and ensure remaining clients have safely exited no later than April 30," shelter officials said.

Earlier this week, remaining residents expressed concern about having little time to figure out where to go once the shelter closes.

“It’s been a whirlwind,” said resident Carolyn Williams. “There was no warning, and when people learned that they would have to look for another place to live it was devastating and overwhelming. We have no place to go.”

Watson said that “the city is not going to let anyone be left without a place to go and no one on the street, and that will include not going to another city if you don’t want to.”

In addition to relocating residents, Reckline said all but three of the facility's 80 employees had been reassigned.

“The residents of the Salvation Army shelter should never have been left in limbo as they were, but I truly appreciate that folks from our Homeless Strategy Division and Austin Public Health have stepped in to help the residents with compassion and urgency to ensure everyone has a safe space to stay,” Watson said. "While this is a temporary solution to an emergency, the work done here represents the kind of responsive service the city is now delivering to all its residents.”

In the meantime, the organization will coordinate with the city's Homeless Strategy Division and other service partners to facilitate the placement of clients. If case management is not available in new temporary housing settings, the Salvation Army staff will continue to provide that service to the clients.

On Friday, the city's homeless services staff reported that the Homeless Strategy Division and community partners have identified alternative shelter or housing for shelter clients.

Members from the city's Homeless Strategy Division and other service providers visited clients and case managers at the downtown shelter Friday morning to give an overview of relocation options and answer questions about the process. Clients were assured that they would be offered a local placement before the shelter closes.

Clients will likely be accommodated in a variety of settings, including local shelters; apartments secured by a service provider; transitional housing programs; board and care homes; and, if needed, hotel stays arranged through a nonprofit partner.

“Addressing this crisis in such a short period of time has only been possible through the collaboration and creativity of our community partners – over a dozen of whom have stepped forward to offer shelter beds, housing, and other resources,” Homeless Strategy Officer Dianna Grey said. “We also appreciate the willingness of The Salvation Army to extend operations to allow for a more thoughtful transition.”

The Salvation Army will continue to serve families, and women and children specifically, at their two remaining shelters: The Rathgeber Center for Families and The Austin Shelter for Women and Children. The Salvation Army has 300 beds within both shelters, officials said.

"By purposefully consolidating their entrusted resources we are confident that our ability to deliver on our mission will be strengthened, and we will continue to work with partners in addressing family homelessness for decades to come," officials said.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin, Salvation Army agree to keep shelter open for 30 more days