Texas Flood Relief

In response to the devastating Texas floods, House the Homeless Board President Will Hyatt and longtime advocate P.J. Liles have joined recovery efforts on the ground in Kerr County, one of the hardest-hit areas. Torrential rains caused the Guadalupe River to rise more than 26 feet in under an hour,
overwhelming roads, camps, and homes. The damage is staggering.

Please pray for the families whose children and loved ones were lost in the floods, and remember all those suffering in Kerr County and other Texas communities still reeling from this historic disaster.

2024 Year in Review

Boots on the Ground.

We continue to advocate with and on behalf of our unhoused neighbors. We go into camps and wherever we find individuals and families in need. We provide the information necessary to navigate assistance and to secure sustainable housing. We recently updated and added to the 60-plus listings in our uniquely portable and durable “Plastic Pocket Resource Guides.”…

The House the Homeless (HtH) Plastic Pocket Resource Guides (18th Edition)

House the Homeless’ Plastic Pocket Resource Guides (18th Edition) remain available in limited supply. These durable, waterproof, fold-out guides were created by founder Richard R. Troxell to connect unhoused individuals with critical local resources—such as shelter, meals, healthcare, and crisis services.

To request guides or include them in your outreach efforts, please contact us directly. Donations help us continue printing and distributing this vital tool.

The Veterans Day Parade

The Veterans Day Parade on November 11, 2025, will feature House the Homeless among its participants in Austin. The parade is set to start at 9:00 am, moving along Congress Avenue from the Bridge to the Capitol Building

Available where books are sold!

In Short Stories in a Long Journey, Richard R. Troxell provides resources, decades of stories, and details of his local and national efforts to End and Prevent Homelessness.

All proceeds benefit persons experiencing homelessness.

Livable Incomes

Richard R. Troxell created Universal Living Wage campaign over two decades ago to index minimum wages based on the cost of housing wherever a person works so they can afford basic housing; and he added a solution for those who cannot work; i.e. increase the social security stipend for those who cannot work.

Tentative Date: January 1st, 2026 HtH HUGSS Event

Be our guest – volunteers welcome – at our 33nd Annual HUGSS GIVE Party. Hot meal with dessert & packs stuffed with new clothing items & helps for Winter survival.

NEW YEAR’S DAY, January 1st

House the Homeless, Inc., founded in 1989, is the oldest, all volunteer, action organization in Texas working to prevent and end homelessness. Our mission is education and advocacy around issues of homelessness. Our goal is prevention and doable solutions, including how to end to economic homelessness here and across the nation. HtH considers all homeless and formerly homeless individuals to be members of this 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit corporation. We strive to ensure that the makeup of our Board of Directors generally not fall below 50% of individuals who were formerly homeless or are currently experiencing homelessness.

New Board President: Will Hyatt

House the Homeless, Inc. is pleased to announce Will Hyatt as our new Board President. Elected at the recent Annual Meeting, Will moves into this leadership role after serving as Vice President. A longtime advocate and active member of HtH, Will brings deep commitment, lived experience awareness, and a strong vision for housing justice. We’re excited for his leadership in guiding our mission forward .

Pastor Will, as he is known, is actively meeting with City Council members and others. Following is an update from David Gray, the City’s Homeless Strategy Officer– a man with a heart for those experiencing homelessness. HtH continues to advocate for all being displaced, for their belongings to be retained, and more, as well as City budgeting of adequate housing resources.

Austin Homeless Strategy Update:
David Gray, Homeless Strategy Officer, City of Austin

Encampment Transitions (Mid-Year)

– 28 individuals recently transitioned from a high-risk Country Club Creek encampment into shelters such as Northbridge, Southbridge, and the Marshalling Yard.
– In the past year, four camps—Barton Creek Greenbelt, Williamson Creek East, Indian Grass Prairie, and North Walnut Creek—were cleared, relocating 63 people into indoor settings.
– Since June 2021, nearly 1,024 individuals have been moved from unsafe camps into shelters through the HEAL Initiative.

Point-In-Time (PIT) Count

– 2025 PIT Count (Jan 25–26): 3,238 people counted in Austin–Travis County—1,661 sheltered and 1,577 unsheltered, marking the first time more individuals are counted as sheltered than those found to be unsheltered.
– 2024 HUD estimate: Approximately 2,975 individuals experiencing homelessness in Greater Austin—this includes both unsheltered individuals counted by volunteers and sheltered residents documented through emergency shelters, transitional housing, and safe havens.

Events & News

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Read the Stories & Take Action

An Ugly Circularity

This is the last of a connected series of posts examining first the phenomenon of families living in motels for years at time; the activities of the giant corporation known as Airbnb; and then asserting that these two things together constitute a monstrous crisis. In...

Identity Crisis — Motels and Houses

A trend is developing that cannot be headed in a good direction. House the Homeless looked last time at parts of America where increasing numbers of people live in a weird limbo between homeless and housed. With varying degrees of official help, they live in motels....

A Strange Paradox

Advocating for people experiencing homelessness can take many forms. On the day-to-day plane of existence, there are meals to be prepared and served, medical needs to be met, paperwork to be sorted out, and so forth. Also, there is the big picture — the gigantic...

Austin Copes With Displaced People

Last week, House the Homeless (HtH) brought up a vexed question: When the nation’s infrastructure is renovated, what will happen to the estimated 100,000 Americans who live beneath bridges and overpasses? The topic is of major importance right now in Austin, where...

The Unauthorized Dwellers

Especially in the wake of recent climate disasters, the nation’s highways, bridges, and overpasses are in sorry shape. It follows that the renovation of the antiquated infrastructure must be a good thing, right? Of course it is — for all but about 100,000 Americans....

Anything for a Roof in America

House the Homeless looked at the worldwide dilemma of people who commit crimes for the specific purpose of being locked up. Jail or prison may be just as dangerous as the streets, but at least there are laws requiring that inmates be fed. Then, we zeroed in on the...

Prison As Shelter in the U.S.A.

In Wisconsin Death Trip, Michael Lesy retrieves true news about America in the late 1800s. Even then, an arsonist who didn’t get caught might have to turn himself in, because the whole point of the crime was to get in out of the weather and be fed. House the Homeless...

Prison As Shelter — A Worldwide Problem

Recently, Kathryn Phelan wrote about the tragedy that brought so many immigrants to America: Forty percent of Ireland’s population died in the mid-1800s, in the Great Famine. Men stole food, either to feed their families or in the hope of going to jail, where they...