Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH)

Summary

This is a multi-purpose facility designed to meet the needs of many segments of the homeless population. The Center is made up of three components: a 100-bed shelter for men, a day resource center, and a health clinic for all homeless persons. The shelter capacity will be expanded to 250 men during extreme weather.

Status

The facility will be named the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH). It will be an expansion of the current ARCH, but it will remain a place where people in homeless situations can access numerous resources to help them work toward self-sufficiency.

The City will build the facility and will provide funding for operations. The City's Primary Care Department will operate the health clinic. A request for proposals will be released in early 2002 to solicit an operator to serve as the facility manager.

The physical design of the facility is nearing completion. The construction of the project will be put out for bid in January of 2002. The expected date of completion for building the facility is July of 2003.

Description

The facility will house three components: a shelter for men, a day resource center, and a health clinic.

The Shelter component is intended to provide an option to sleeping outside for chronically homeless men who have not successfully accessed other shelters and services. Shelter is available to any adult male, regardless of drug or alcohol use, or mental illness, provided the client is not a danger to himself or others. However, repeated presentation in an intoxicated state may result in termination of services. Clients are allowed 30 nights of shelter within a 90 day period, with extensions available at the discretion of case managers.

The Day Resource Center will be open to all homeless persons and will provide centralized intake, information and referral, and basic services (including showers, telephone/mail/messaging, laundry facilities, and computer access). In addition, other services that help homeless persons to reach self-sufficiency will be co-located at the resource center (e.g., legal aid, case management, mental health outreach, assistance for homeless children in AISD). The Health Clinic will replace the Homeless Health Clinic currently operated at the Salvation Army shelter. The new expanded space will allow staff to serve more clients more efficiently. Homeless families, adults and youth will be able to access acute care, wellness/prevention care, and public health screenings.

Involved Parties

The development of this project has involved extensive community input. Three groups comprised of representatives from neighborhood associations, downtown businesses, homeless service providers, homeless/formerly homeless people, and members of the faith community have participated: The Stakeholders' Committee, the Coordinating Council, and the Design Committee.

The City of Austin Self-Sufficiency and Responsibility Stakeholders' Committee was created as part of the City Homeless Initiative to develop and oversee the operations of proposed new homeless programs, particularly those in the downtown area. This committee provides oversight to the Coordinating Council, oversees the design of homeless service facilities, ensures project timelines, and monitors the fund development process.

A Coordinating Council was created as part of the City Homeless Initiative. The Council's responsibilities center on developing and reviewing operating policies and guidelines for the downtown shelter, resource center, and clinic. The Council is anticipated to work closely with the operating board of the agency(ies) operating the facility. A Design Committee has been meeting with architects regularly since November 2000 to finalize programmatic aspects of the facility and to design the building.

A fourth group that has been involved in planning the downtown shelter, resource center, and clinic is the Homeless Task Force. Established by the Austin City Council in January 1996, the Homeless Task Force was charged with developing a comprehensive plan for addressing homelessness in Austin/Travis County. The plan was completed in December 1996 with five year goals for each gap identified in the local continuum of care. The HTF recently completed an updated needs assessment that is available from the Community Action Network (CAN). The Task Force serves as the CAN's official planning body for homeless issues and is comprised of service providers, homeless advocates, business and neighborhood representatives, public agencies, and community representatives.

Basic Data

• Project Contact: Mary Rychlik, Homeless Services Coordinator, Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department, 707-5929
  Anjum Hanafi, Research Analyst, A/TC HHSD, 707-3246
• Project Manager: Cindy Jordan, Project Management Division, City of Austin Public Works Department, 974-7183

Back to the October 2001 Downtown Report