Crews have been working with the homeless community to ensure they’re not camped out in drainage areas, which can become dangerous when filled with rushing waters.
SAN ANTONIO — Before heavy rains began soaking San Antonio this week, the City and its nonprofit partners were working around the clock, ensuring the homeless community had the resources they needed to stay safe and dry.
“With this recent rain event, we started getting notifications from the weather service late last week that these storms were coming,” said Patrick Steck, assistant director of the city’s department of human services.
The City of San Antonio’s 11-person outreach team works year-round engaging with people on the streets, providing an array of resources and assistance for those without traditional places to call home.
One of the city’s top priorities during the latest string of wet weather has been visiting the homeless encampments situated near drainage canals because of how dangerous these areas can become when large amounts of rain come pounding down.
In March 2024, San Antonio firefighters rescued a homeless woman who was swept away by rushing waters as she was sleeping in a drainage ditch on the northwest side. The encampment is located off Babcock and Overdale Drive.
City outreach workers spent Thursday morning checking up on homeless communities in light of the persistent rainfall creating potentially unsafe conditions.
“Always are offering folks resources, shelter, housing connections,” Steck said. “And then if they are not either able to access or willing to access to those resources, to seek higher ground, to get out of the low-lying areas.”
The city collaborates with a network of organizations every day, including the nonprofit known as Christian Assistance Ministry (CAM), especially when it comes to weather-related events.
“We typically start rallying around here, pulling out plastic parkas they can wear and try and warn them about the upcoming rain,” said Dawn White-Fosdick, president and CEO of CAM. “We do think that the weather is a vital time for us to talk with our clients not only to save them for that day, but it also creates an opportunity for us to talk to them about making a different decision about coming in off the street.”
To learn more about the City of San Antonio’s homeless outreach efforts and to report encampments, go here.