Austin Seeks Bids To Operate City-Owned Shelter

Austin Public Health Department officials are seeking bids to operate the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless, a city-owned shelter downtown known as the ARCH.

Austin Public Health Department officials are seeking bids to operate the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless, a city-owned shelter downtown known as the ARCH.

The facility is currently managed by Front Steps, a local nonprofit organization that plans to seek renewal of its contract that expires Sept. 30 with the city.

The operating budget in 2017 was $4.7 million while the city paid Front Steps $2.3 million in 2016 to operate the ARCH.

The number of homeless in the city has increased 25 percent between 2015 and 2017. City Council members also accepted a $1.25 million grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies to benefit the homeless.

The ARCH, a three-story, 8,000-square-foot building, was opened in 2004 with 100 beds and has expanded to now include 90 mats. The facility provides overnight shelter for single, adult men, a sleep center during the day for men and women and a resource center for services such as case management, mental health and substance abuse assistance.

The new contract calls for rethinking the purpose and limits of the ARCH.

For more information, please visit http://www.austintexas.gov/department/capital-contracting.

This story originally published by Strategic Partnerships, Inc.