Best of Austin®

Best Tool in the Civic Toolbox

Austin's Homelessness Advisory Committee

click to enlarge Best Tool in the Civic Toolbox
Photo by John Anderson

Our city leaders aren't flying blind as Austin makes its dramatic, systematic efforts to flat-out end homelessness. Among their most valuable guides are the members of AHAC, a group of people with diverse life stories to tell, all of which include lived experience with homelessness. These volunteers came together in 2017 to inform the city Innovation Office's iTeam effort to "solve for homelessness," with help from $1.25 million in grant funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies; their stories and skills have gone into the design of the programs and services, both large and small, now being deployed to make Austin a different, better place for all, no matter where or how they live.