Category Archives: Housing Heroes Austin

The Housing Heroes project is the Mayor’s initiative to end veteran homelessness in Austin by the end of 2015. Stay tunes for progress and learn how you can help by subscribing to From the Desk of Mayor Adler.

Statement by Mayor Adler on Veterans Day Parade

I am looking forward to honoring veterans this Veterans Day weekend by helping out however I can be helpful at the Central Texas Food Bank, which serves a large number of our local veteran community.

I will not be marching in the Congress Avenue parade because that parade will include groups carrying the Confederate flag. Veterans Day should only be about honoring United States Military Veterans. Symbols of racism, Civil War secession, and white supremacy should not be forgotten or erased, but they need to be remembered and studied in museums and classrooms not cheered and applauded in parades. Continue reading →

Mayor: Solve Downtown Puzzle by making tourists pay to house homeless

On Monday, Mayor Adler proposed a solution to the Downtown Puzzle, his name for the interconnected and geographically contiguous challenges in the eastern part of downtown Austin. After months of discussions with community groups represented at a City Hall press conference, the Mayor proposed harnessing downtown economic activity, including an expansion of the convention center, to raise $30 million for permanent supportive housing for the homeless and create an ongoing funding stream to address homelessness that starts at about $4 million a year until 2021 when it doubles. The Mayor’s proposal, which requires Council action, does not include any property tax increase.

“We have figured out how to put the Downtown Puzzle together by making tourists pay to house the homeless and by harnessing the power of Austin to benefit all Austinites. This plan won’t raise your property taxes, will expand our tax base, and makes a big down payment on the moral imperative to house the homeless,” said Mayor Adler.

Continue reading →

AUSTIN JOINS BLOOMBERG PHILANTHROPIES’ INNOVATION TEAM PROGRAM IN LATEST EXPANSION

bloomberg_philanthropies_logoNew multi-year grant of up to $1.5 million will be awarded to help Austin tackle homelessness

 

 

Today, Bloomberg Philanthropies recognized the city of Austin as a new member of its Innovation Team program, which helps City Halls drive bold innovation, change culture, and tackle big problems to deliver better results for residents. Austin was selected from a pool of municipalities with a demonstrated commitment to designing and delivering bold solutions to solve homelessness. Other cities selected for the global program include Be’er Sheva, Israel; Toronto, Canada, and Anchorage, AK; Austin, TX; Baltimore, MD; Detroit, MI; and Durham; NC in the United States.

Currently in the third round of funding, the program will allow Mayor Steve Adler and the City Council to fund an in-house innovation team, or “i-team”, to pioneer new approaches on homelessness.

“This grant will help us tackle problems in new ways that reflect who we are in Austin, and I’m excited to see what can come from this,” said Mayor Adler. “When we effectively ended veteran homelessness, we learned how effective new partnerships between the business community, philanthropists and non-profits could be. Bloomberg’s grant will allow our Innovation Office to experiment with new ways to house the homeless.” Continue reading →