Anyone taking a stroll through Austin's downtown should be prepared to encounter the scenes of homelessness that have become prevalent over the last several years.
According to Austin ECHO (Ending Community Homelessness Organization), over 2,200 people in the city experienced homelessness to some degree in 2019.
An Austin-based organization is working to combat that number, which has been on the rise since 2017.
| The Other Ones Foundation
The Other Ones Foundation (TOOF) assists the vulnerable, marginalized population—those "other ones"—living on the fringes of society. TOOF works to offer "extremely low barrier employment" to the city's homeless citizens. Employment assistance, paired with highly-personalized case management, helps create an effective and lasting transition to the workforce.
TOOF's Community Engagement Coordinator Max Moscoe said the homeless numbers are a crisis, but a solvable one.
"We need to create an environment where folks have the love and support they need to live a happy and fulfilled life, and the resources exist to do this," Moscoe said. "It is just a matter of pairing the right resources with the right people."
The organizations efforts to create a positive impact in the community are extensive. In addition to helping the unemployed find work, TOOF participates in city cleanup measures, finds housing for the homeless, supplies hygiene resources and furnishes "a place where all people are welcome, loved and supported."
The organization stands apart from similar ones in the area by its approach in offering income: individuals in the program must work and are paid in cash at the end of each day.
While TOOF talked of introducing its program in other cities, the nonprofit's expansion dreams have been put on hold to instead focus resources on the coronavirus crisis.
"As a lot of the usual resources slow down or dry up due to the pandemic, we have started running our Mobile Hygiene Clinic (MHC), which delivers essential services out into the homeless community," said Moscoe. "We are taking our MHC out five days a week, to a different location around the city each day, offering showering and restrooms, food, clothing and essential hygiene supplies."
Since TOOF currently operates on reduced manpower during the pandemic, the MHC is its only major project right now. Normally, it serves around 50 people per day.
Moscoe said the nonprofit has many vital partners and supporters, but the list is too long to name them all.
"The city of Austin is very supportive of us and all of Austin's homelessness service providers are literal heroes," he said.
Updates on The Other Ones Foundation, its efforts to help the homeless among the COVID-19 pandemic and new program updates can be found on its website.
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