Keep Austin Charitable

Juanita, thank you for your very informative editorial regarding the homeless citizens of Austin. I do agree that the homeless citizens in Austin are judged harshly by conservative republicans and that there is plenty more to be done to help get the homeless into safe shelters. My only argument with your article is that it makes it seem as if all of Austin is ignoring the situation at hand, which is false. Recently, Austin found a unique way to help out homeless citizens during the famous week long festival South By Southwest. The article "Homeless people turned into walking Wi-Fi hotspots in 'charitable experiment" posted on FOX News, addresses the hotspot situation. Austin decided to hire homeless citizens to wear "WiFi hotspot" shirts, and allow customers to access WiFi in specific locations for the festival. There was some controversy as to whether or not this was charitable, but I believe this was a very creative and beneficial way for Austin to help out the homeless. Why pay a teenage SXSW groupie to wear these t shirts when you can help someone who really needs the money? It just goes to show that Austin is by no means ignoring the situation at hand, they are just trying to find alternative sources to tackle the issue. Afterall, we do take "Keep Austin Weird" literally.

 Speaking of our famous slogan, an organization called "Keep Austin Housed" was created to aid social service agencies in Austin, who are also trying to decrease homelessness in the city.  Keep Austin Housed promises to " providing services ranging from emergency shelter and basic needs to case management and permanent housing" to help citizens in need. Although the government has been enforcing laws against homeless, there are still many organizations in Austin who dedicate time and money to keeping our streets safe and helping citizens find shelter. I do agree that a lot more needs to be done for this good cause to be successful, and that involves more then just charitable organizations. Our government needs to pay more attention to the issue at hand if we want to make significant progress in solving this crisis.