The Salvation Army Austin Updates

March 10, 2023

We are grateful the City of Austin has partnered with us to continue to serve clients at our Downtown Shelter. After several years of negotiations with the City without any resolution, we made the difficult decision to close the doors of this shelter on March 15, 2023. The Salvation Army Austin continues to serve families at The Rathgeber Center for Families and The Austin Shelter for Women and Children.

We continue to work closely with the city officials and other partners in ensuring everyone currently in our shelter has a transition plan. The majority of the 100 clients in The Downtown Shelter have worked closely with their caseworkers to choose a next step and have safely exited the shelter. Those remaining are either finalizing exit plans with their case worker or determining their next steps. We will continue to safely exit clients at The Downtown Shelter as client plans finalize now and through the upcoming weeks and ensure remaining clients have safely exited no later than April 30th. 

We continue to provide guidance and resources to exit every client safely.  Despite reports to the contrary, The Salvation Army has always been committed to the safe exit of our downtown shelter brothers and sisters. We continue Doing the Most Good and are committed to follow our Christian mission as we shepherd our downtown shelter clients through these conversations and decisions.

We are committed to continuing to amplify and expand our ability to serve families, and women and children specifically, at our two remaining shelters: The Rathgeber Center for Families and The Austin Shelter for Women and Children. By purposefully consolidating our entrusted resources we are confident that our ability to deliver on our mission will be strengthened, and we will continue to work with partners in addressing family homelessness for decades to come. The Salvation Army has 300 beds within our two shelters where we serve families experiencing homelessness.

March 2, 2023

After several years of engagement, investigation and discussion with the City and with our leadership, we made the difficult decision to close this shelter on March 15th. We can no longer continue to offer the level and quality of care our brothers and sisters need at this facility. We agree with our partners in this space, that the crisis of homelessness in our City remains an enormous challenge. In the short term, we are diligently working with each of the clients currently at the downtown shelter to help them relocate and access the care and services they need. In the long term, closing this facility allows us to amplify our focus on families and women and children who are experiencing homelessness. Through our Rathgeber Center for Families and the Austin Shelter for Women and Children, we operate 300 beds, continue to serve vulnerable families, and look forward to continuing to work with the city as a collaborative partner now and in the future.

February 17, 2023

We are excited to announce The Rathgeber Center for Families is turning three on February 26^th, 2023! Throughout these years, we have successfully served hundreds of families, women, and children at The Rathgeber Center. In addition, we are researching homeless prevention programs, and are working on short-, mid-, and long-term programming to better serve families in crisis.

In honor of this birthday, we would like to highlight that The Rathgeber Center has served a total of 1,068 people including:

448 Adults                  620 Children               328 Households

At The Salvation Army, our first and highest priority is helping those experiencing homelessness move from crisis to stability. Through our network of shelters and services in Central Texas each day we care for people in crisis, providing overnight shelter and delivering wraparound services, including case management, counseling, food, and housing resources to meet their needs.

The downtown shelter has historically been an important cornerstone of our local services, but the facility is aging and in disrepair. After a long period of consideration and prayer, with the counsel of Advisory Board members and Austin community leaders, we have come to the decision that we can no longer continue to offer the level and quality of care our brothers and sisters need at this facility. The pandemic has brought into sharp focus the challenges of operating this facility with the staff and support necessary, and it is no longer tenable to continue investing in the necessary infrastructure.

We are called to be good stewards of every dollar entrusted to us. We believe closing this facility now will allow us to ultimately provide enhanced care for a meaningful number of families, women, and children in need. Our motto is “Doing The Most Good.” By purposefully consolidating our entrusted resources, we are confident our ability to deliver on our mission will be strengthened. We will work closely with our partners to make sure everyone currently in the downtown shelter is relocated and continues to have access to the care and services they need.

We wanted you to hear directly from us. We are committed to “Doing the Most Good” and know we can help children and parents in crisis. Our future is tied to theirs, and we are committed to a families, women, and children-focused mission.

God Bless,

Major Lewis Reckline

Our Mission

Inspired by our Christian mission, we offer the resources and support to lift up our neighbors in crisis.  As the largest non-profit provider of family emergency shelter in Central Texas, annually we serve more than 12,000 people with shelter, addiction rehabilitation, clothing, meals, holiday support, and direct client assistance.  Each year we successfully case manage hundreds from crisis to stability and self-sufficiency.