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

The Swap-A-Hat Program

GOAL:$4000 = 500 Hats COLLECTED AS OF 7/25:$600 = 75 Hats Due to the extreme heat in Austin this spring and summer, House the Homeless is again conducting the Swap-A-Hat program. People experiencing homelessness will be given the opportunity to either swap their...

Meanest Streets, Part 1

A 2005 report by the National Coalition for the Homeless listed what were, at the time, the 20 meanest cities, the ones with the worst records in terms of anti-homeless laws, selectivity of enforcement, severity of penalties, and their general political...

Chronicling Homelessness: Mark Horvath

There are three kinds of “first-person” accounts of homelessness, the first being, of course, narratives that originate with the authentic homeless. They tell their own stories and the stories of other street people their lives have intersected with, which is almost...

How Change Happens

August 17, 2010: Richard R. Troxell and House the Homeless at the Austin City Council meeting. When the words “City Council meeting” are mentioned, many people, for one reason or another, tend to zone out. But stick around, and you will hear an amazing thing. Last...

The Unavoidable Problem of Human Waste

We have talked about the inordinate amount of time, energy, and financial resources that are spent on preventing benches from being slept on, or even sat on by people experiencing homelessness. The same brand of madness goes on over public bathrooms. The object...

HomeAid Live – a Social Media Event

HomeAid is scheduled for November 11 and 12, during the National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. It is a virtual happening, very Earth-friendly. (And besides, everybody is too broke to travel. If any spare change is lurking between the couch...

Kick ‘Em When They’re Down, Part 2

People have some strange mental pictures of “the homeless.” Want to see a homeless person? Take a look in the mirror. Tomorrow, you could be the homeless person. Very few of us are guaranteed immunity from the disasters of life. For example, that financier, the...

Kick ‘Em When They’re Down

No matter what a homeless person might do, whether it’s to return some lost money, or to be found dead in a dumpster, their identity is “homeless.” It’s as if the individual’s status as a non-owner and non-renter of real estate is the most important thing about her or...

Austin’s Revised Sit-Lie Ordinance

Recently Andrea Ball, a journalist with The Austin American-Statesman newspaper, wrote about changes made to Austin’s “No Sit/No Lie” ordinance. There had already been a sit-lie ordinance since 2005, one that included exceptions for people camping out to buy...

A Crown Jewel in Austin?

Note: Rather than use up space here on the background, the writer urges the reader to backtrack over the two previous articles about Austin’s Waller Creek Project.) The Waller Creek Conservancy’s press release of April 28, 2011, says the group is made up of...