A new East Austin Apartment Complex is set to house 50 of Austin’s homeless.
At a ribbon cutting Monday evening (Sept. 24th), Integral Care’s Darilynn Cardona-Beiler said the new Terrace at Oak Springs has 50-efficiency apartments for those living on the street as part of the City’s housing first approach to answering the local homelessness crisis.
Each room is wheelchair accessible, some even tailor made to fit the needs of someone in a wheelchair, like lower peep holes in their door. Each is fully furnished with a bed some chairs and a full kitchen. Cardona-Beiler explained the first 25 units will be filled by homeless veterans currently waiting in shelters around the city, she expect that process to start in early October and move on to their next phase around November. Then the rest of the apartment units will be filled by the homeless who have disabilities and medical conditions.
As part of the Terrace at Oak Springs complex, Cardona-Beiler said there is a community care clinic/out-patient facility, that is set to open its doors in the next few moths. She said it’ll provide a variety of services, “that includes counseling, mental health services, substance abuse treatment, primary care services, not only for the residents living at Terrace at Oak Springs, but for the entire community.”
Each efficiency unit will be signed for in a standard lease agreement, said Cardona-Beiler, and though a partnership with the city she explained Austin is dealing out 50- housing vouchers for the future residents, meaning those in the program will only need to pay $25 a month. The residents can stay as long as they want to, but she continued, in similar housing first complexes like the Terrace at Oak Springs, she’s seen residents in need stick around for about 2-3 years before getting back on their feet and moving on.
As for safety, Cardona-Beiler explained the complex is on private property, it will be staffed 24-hours a day, visitors will need to check in and camping is forbidden.
The Terrace at Oak Springs was a $19 million project five years in the making, said Cardona-Beiler. And she along with the volunteers and homeless advocates are excited to see it open.
(Photo:Newsradio KLBJ 590am/99.7fm/Jon Cooley)
