Austin Resource Center for the Homeless; ARCH

I'm not going to lie, going into this I was terrified, and honestly I'm not completely over my fears. I've grown up very cautious of homeless people. I have had countless strange encounters with the homeless late at night downtown with friends. I've even been chased in broad daylight by a homeless man in downtown Houston. So as you might assume this assignment took me way out of my comfort zone.
As my partner and I arrived at ARCH we were greeted by about 30 plus homeless men and women outside waiting to get into the shelter. There was a man ranting about people taking paper out of his pockets. There was a woman at the door banging for someone to let her in. Everywhere I looked there was something going on. It was obvious we weren't going to be able to just waltz in, because by the looks of the angry Hispanic women at the door not even the homeless people were getting in. I called the shelter to let them know we were outside and they sent someone to the door to let us in. This caused quite a scene because as you can imagine the homeless people who had been waiting at the door were quite upset.
When we got in I noticed tons on homeless people everywhere, no wonder there weren't letting them in. There were people in the medical clinic, in line at the information desk, and resting anywhere they could find a free spot at various places around the shelter. The shelter is pretty large. It’s two stories with a waiting area, medical clinic, kitchen and more on the bottom floor. On the second floor I noticed an art studio, classrooms, showers and bathrooms, as well as offices for the staff. Within a minute we were greeted by Dawn Perkins, who is the volunteer coordinator for the shelter. She gave us great insight to what exactly ARCH is and what they do. She was very helpful and willing to take the time to talk to us.
I learned that ARCH is part of Front Steps which is an umbrella organization that works with many shelters, food banks, and organizations around Austin. Anyone can come to ARCH and they will asses your needs and either help you or send you to someplace better suited for your needs. ARCH tends to service more men because at night out of necessity they turn into an all men’s overnight shelter. Dawn said in the last five years they have noticed an increase in women and children needing assistance. Most of the homeless that come through ARCH are mentally handicapped or involved in some sort of substance abuse. ARCH offers assistance to get their clients back on a track to success and getting off the streets. They offer medical assistance, counseling, amongst many other programs to help people finds jobs and homes.
I talked to a man who works with Art from the Streets, which is a group of homeless people who create art to be auctioned off to raise money for the arts at ACC. I also talked to another homeless man who is a victim of Katrina. He's been displaced in Austin for 4 years and just now has an apartment. He said he Louisiana he had a home, job, and a family. Now he has nothing and can't get a foot in the door. He said he was a two time decorated Vietnam Vet. It's amazing what he gave for his country and this is all he has to show for it.
As I was leaving the shelter, I didn't feel any safer, but I did have a better understanding and felt compelled to learn more. I think that the media could learn so much from this community. I think a majority of society had no clue how much of an epidemic Chronic Homelessness is. I also think society would be astonished at the number of Homeless people who are mentally handicapped. If I were doing a story I would write about the number of Katrina victims who were still displaced and still having trouble getting back on their feet. I think it would also be interesting to look into how many ex-prisoners are left homeless because we don’t offer sufficient rehabilitation. There are so many people that come through ARCH. The number of stories that could come out of this shelter alone is amazing. I hope by reading this it might light a fire under someone else.

Casey Young