AUSTIN (KXAN)— There’s a homeless encampment in southeast Austin that is drawing concern from people who live nearby.
It’s located just off William Cannon Drive and Bluff Springs Road, right across the street from a neighborhood.
The Sneed House
The historic Sneed House is on the property.
According to documents by the Historic Preservation Commission, It was once a plantation house that was built in the 1857 by Judge Sebron Graham Sneed and his family when they first moved to Austin
The home was zoned historic in 1979, with the surrounding area rezoned historic in 1980. The house was destroyed by fire in 1989, and the ruins remain.
The property
The property is filled with trash, open flames, drug paraphernalia and many tents where people are living. For months it has continued to grow with no signs of slowing down.
“We do recognize that this specific property is posing some challenges to the community,” said David Gray, the City of Ausin Homeless Strategy Officer.
KXAN reached out to the city to find out why the camp remains and what is being done to get the people living there off the streets and into programs that can help them.
“So we have worked with the code enforcement department to do cleaning at the property,” Gray said. “I have had outreach staff go to the property to see if anyone at the property is willing to take us up for offers on shelter. No one yet has taken us up yet on that offer.”
More than two months ago, KXAN’s Jala Washington reported on the property, highlighting concerns people had about open fires and the general safety for people living nearby. When KXAN cameras returned in March, we saw even more people and trash on the property, as well as open drug use.
KXAN asked Gray what happens if someone staying in one of these camps refuses help?
“Our philosophy is, if someone says no the first time, that is ok, we are going to come back the next day, and the next day, and we are going to keep on coming back and let them know that we see you, we value you and that these are real opportunities to help you get you off the street,” Gray said.
Gray said this property is private so it can be a challenge to clean up. KXAN is working to get a hold of the property owner to find out if they are aware of the issue.
According to the Travis County Appraisal District property search the owner is listed as MT Properties LLC out of Wilmington, Delaware.
KXAN asked the city if it has been in contact with the property owner, but we have not heard back.
KXAN has also requested 911 and 311 calls for the property, but that request is still pending after more than a week.
Shelter space
Gray said there is only one shelter bed for every five people that need assistance.
“Last year we had more than 24,000 people make contact with one of our homeless providers,” Gray said.
Gray said on any given night there could be 6,000 to 6,500 people sleeping unsheltered on the streets.
The city has invested millions of dollars into what are meant to be temporary shelters, places like the Northbridge and Southbridge shelters.
Bridge Housing is a hybrid of emergency shelter and transitional housing to serve the target population. It features short-term housing and supportive services, with the goal of helping people achieve self-sufficiency or to access available permanent housing options.
KXAN asked the city if it tracks how many people have entered bridge shelters, but then end up back on the streets.
The city tells KXAN that 431 clients exited the Housing-Focused Encampment Assistance Link (HEAL) shelters in 2024. The city said 102 clients went to negative destinations (streets, other shelters, or jail) in 2024. Fifty-three clients exited HEAL shelters to unknown destinations in 2024.
HEAL is a program in Austin that connects people experiencing homelessness to shelters and housing resources.
“Returns to homelessness does happen unfortunately however our positive success rate here in Austin is higher than the national average,” Gray said. “I think last time I checked 92% of people who graduate from our programs, we do not see those folks come back into the Homeless Management Information System.”
Mental Health and Addiction
Low bed space is one challenge, but many of the people facing homelessness also struggle with mental illness and addiction.
“We know it is a problem with this population, we do have substance use programs, harm reduction programs and other services for folks that are looking to get clean,” Gray said.
Gray said reporting any issues with drugs is still the best thing to do.
“If people in the area see any concern related to public safety on the property, please call 911 and report that activity, because that helps the city and in our case with the private property owner, to compel the private property owner to take action,” Gray said.
But people tell KXAN they are doing that. One person who wanted to stay anonymous, lives near a different encampment in east Austin,. He said he has called 311 and 911, and it’s discouraging to see no changes.
“I have probably called a dozen times, but I probably should have called 40 times,” the man said.
The man said abandoned properties near him have become a place where drugs are being used, bought and sold in plain sight.
“There was fire and police because we had an overdose on the street and that is becoming essentially a weekly thing here,” the man said.
Gray said they have cracked down on the sale of drugs near and around shelters.
“We worked a couple of instances last year with Austin Police Department, where we knew there were drug dealers, preying on people experiencing homelessness — some of those operations in abandoned structures,” Gray said. “We were able to identify those structures for APD and work with their task force to eliminate those nuisances from communities.”
The shelters don’t allow drug use and have a zero tolerance policy.
“Our clients know if you use drugs in our shelters, if you bring drugs into our shelters, or if you manufacture drugs in our shelters, or in our housing projects, you will get kicked out,” Gray said.
The man KXAN spoke to said more should be done for those struggling with addiction and mental health, or there needs to be a crackdown on the people supplying the drugs.
“My understanding is that if people want to get access to the resources, they have to be sober,” the man said. “So it does not surprise me that the people you see most often, the regulars, per se, are folks that are using drugs.”
Perspective from the streets
KXAN spoke with Dixie Clanton who has been experiencing homelessness for about a year and a half in Austin.
He said he has reached out about getting into a shelter, but it can be a long and difficult process. He said it is hard to access resources when living on the streets, because many people live far away from the main facilities.
Clanton said a lot of the larger camps attract those who prey on the people who suffer from addiction and that’s why he stays away from them.
He said the majority of the people he knows access homeless resources, and he knows about a few success stories. However, he said there are also people who don’t want to leave the streets.
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