LEON VALLEY, Texas – Haven for Hope has doubled its homeless outreach team with the help of a new program for street outreach.
Over the next year, two full-time outreach coordinators will serve suburban communities in Bexar County. At the beginning of August, the pilot program began in Leon Valley. The city, county and Haven for Hope partnered to push outreach these efforts.
Soon, the initiative will cover even more cities.
“It’s been amazing,” said Alberto Rodriguez, the vice president of transformational operations at Haven for Hope. “We’ve always had a team of two that helps (San Antonio) with encampment abatements. The unincorporated cities were needing those services, too.”
Last year, Leon Valley City Council approved an ordinance that essentially banned homelessness. Weeks after the decision, Bexar County announced the launch of the program in suburban communities.
Haven’s data shows that this street outreach team’s current success rate is 61%, and 28 people have transitioned to shelters since it began 60 days ago.
“That’s unheard of,” Rodriguez said. “The common average across the nation usually is about 15 to 20%.”
It’s a statistic both Haven for Hope and people who have experienced homelessness have taken some pride in.
“It’s really a blessing,” Michael Mitchell, a man without shelter, said.
The program expanded to cover Leon Valley and Live Oak on Oct. 1. Haven said the goal is to add Helotes on Nov. 1 and Somerset on Dec. 1.
