From KUT News:
Hundreds of people experiencing homelessness are taking advantage of warm places to sleep this week as overnight temperatures dip below freezing.
At the city’s shelters alone an estimated 550 people stayed overnight Monday. But that is just a fraction of the more than 5,300 people estimated to be experiencing homelessness in the Austin-Travis County area, according to data from the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition.
Several faith-based groups have tried to step up to help house people on nights when it gets really cold, navigating the challenging logistics to get a shelter up and running.
At St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in North Austin, it took more than a dozen volunteers to convert the community center into an overnight shelter with enough room for about 30 people. The church started opening its door to people experiencing homelessness earlier this year.
Pastor Ashley Cuellar said the church hopes to serve unhoused neighbors that might not be able to make it to one of the city’s shelters.