You may think the street scene at Seventh and Red River is intense and ugly now, but development along the corridor will, literally, bring to the surface a heaping helping of social need and woe. And beaming the homeless to a distant planet is not an option. You need to offer coordinated, centralized services where people can use them. We can't simply bemoan the problem. And in Austin, with the Salvation Army and our facilities already here, this is a logical extension of our services.
Many merchants are supportive and very, very astute.
And those of us who offer services are called upon to be cognizant of our neighbors and the community. We need to create a service structure that fits in with the businesses around us, not one that creates additional problems. Eileen Earhart Oldag of Caritas stands on the porch of the building that has housed the nonprofit organization for over 10 years. The building will be torn down, and the organization will move to a renovated site at the corner of Seventh and Red River. We're not tickled, but we want to be a part of it.