Austin, Travis County ramp up homeless camping ban enforcement statesman.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from statesman.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
After the city voted to ban encampments in the Texas capital, more churches see advocacy, lobbying, and government partnerships as part of their outreach.
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Improving Health Outcomes for People Experiencing Homelessness is Focus of New Study
AUSTIN, Texas – Combining mobile health technology, or mHealth, and community outreach to improve the health outcomes of people experiencing homelessness is the target of a new study by pharmacy researchers at The University of Texas at Austin, thanks to a five-year research grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
People experiencing homelessness are at high risk for emergency department visits and hospital use due in part to difficulty maintaining communication or lack of consistent communication between health and social services providers. The project, led by Leticia R. Moczygemba, hopes to maximize the use of a smartphone as a tool for people experiencing homelessness to take care of their health care needs, including managing their appointments and taking medications, as well as empowering individuals to use the phone
The debate over Austin’s camping policies for people experiencing homelessness has erupted into a biblical battle.
In the runup to the election, local Democrats among them Austin City Council member Natasha Harper-Madison and recent congressional candidate Julie Oliver have attempted to frame Matt Mackowiak, the local Republican leader pushing to reinstate the camping ban, as a hypocrite, suggesting he is ignoring passages in the Bible they say underscore the need to protect the indigent.
Mackowiak, who is Catholic, calls that suggestion a phony line of attack and says he hopes reinstating the ban will push Austin s leaders to take swifter action to increase the city’s housing options for homeless people.
Pastor Mark Hilbelink leads a group of 40 churches trying to help the homeless.
Food, water and coffee are just a few of the many services offered at Sunrise Community Church.
One day five years ago, they showed up.
Mark Hilbelink, the pastor at the small Sunrise Community Church near Ben White Boulevard and Menchaca Road, noticed that among his flock that Sunday were worshipers who he knew were experiencing homelessness.
“We didn’t plan on it,” says Hilbelink, 37, originally from small-town South Dakota and Iowa. “They just came.”
Already, Hilbelink had realized that the church, founded as part of the Christian Reformed movement, could do what many churches based on biblical principles wanted to do: follow in the footsteps of Jesus and help those who need help the most.