Austin, Texas — A report from the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office found drug overdoses are the No. 1 cause of accidental death in our community.

To shed some light on this issue, three Austin mothers organized a walk on Sunday to educate the public and raise awareness of the rising number of fentanyl overdose deaths.

It’s been triple-digit temperatures for weeks now around much of Texas. Homeless Texans are among the state's most vulnerable residents.

On Monday, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors unanimously approved the implementation of a new system called Equifare that caps the amount riders pay for fares and provides reduced fares for people with lower incomes. But before the board voted, some Austinites voiced their concerns saying the reduced fares do not go far enough to aid Austin’s unhoused.

After years of organizing by Texas Harm Reduction Alli­ance, including an emotional town hall at the beginning of May, the Travis County Commissioners Court unanimously declared the opioid overdose epidemic a public health crisis on May 24.

AUSTIN, Texas — Megan Boyd has her boots to the ground at the Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center. She’s part of a mobile outreach program that travels to homeless encampments across the city to conduct coordinated assessments. As Boyd and her team arrived at a parking lot on Menchaca Road, the outreach team stumbled upon dozens of unhoused residents whose encampment was just cleaned out.

The local nonprofit Ending Community Homelessness Coalition has selected three organizations to split a $2 million grant in a new partnership meant to help more unsheltered people of color in Austin. Two of the nonprofit organizations, Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center and We Can Now, are based in Austin and already work with people experiencing homelessness here. A third organization, Urban Alchemy, is based in California and is hiring staffers for Austin.

St. David’s donates millions to help Austin nonprofit improve outreach.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Dozens of people lined up around Sunrise Community Church in south Austin Monday, with lead director Mark Hilbelink walking through the crowd, saying hello to those he passed. Serving as lead pastor for 11 years and as director of Sunrise’s homeless navigation center for six, once unfamiliar faces have since become regulars.

One day five years ago, they showed up. Mark Hilbelink, the pastor at the small Sunrise Community Church near Ben White Boulevard and Menchaca Road, noticed that among his flock that Sunday were worshipers who he knew were experiencing homelessness.

Jane Angelo woke up Thursday morning and felt a tinge of despair. She lives alone out of her car, a decision she chose but one with reminders of solitude on days like Thanksgiving and during times like the coronavirus pandemic. A regular visitor to the Sunrise Community Church on Menchaca Road in South Austin, Angelo knew this year’s Thanksgiving meal offered by the church for people experiencing homelessness would be different.

Resources such as food, shelter or a shower are limited for people experiencing homelessness in Southwest Austin. As a result, homeless individuals are flocking to camps created on undeveloped land where they can sleep and live without being confronted by authorities, police say. Joshua Visi, an Austin Police Department liaison who represents the portion of Southwest Austin between Hwy. 290 and Brodie Lane, said most homeless individuals choose to stray from the downtown area to avoid drugs and crime.

In this episode, Cassie talks with Mark Hilbelink, Emily Grace, and Michelle Thompson of Sunrise Church in south Austin, “the weirdest little church in Texas.”

As we take the off-ramp of US-290 West, I am shocked to see groups of homeless individuals huddled in the darkness beneath the overpasses. A short block later, on the right, more groups of men and women are gathered on a patio around some picnic tables. A sign on the lawn reads, “Hot diggity. You’ve made it to the Weirdest Little Church in Texas.”

At the suggestion of a colleague (thanks, Kathryn), I stopped by the Sunrise Community Church, that calls itself as the Weirdest Little Church in Texas. There was a buzz of activity with many people milling about the outdoor picnic tables. I bumped into Pastor Mark who happily offered to introduce me to the ministry and give me a tour.

You may see them on your way to work, or in parks: homeless people panhandling or sleeping under overpasses. Residents in a South Austin neighborhood say they’re concerned the problem is getting worse in their backyards, specifically the Ben White corridor. While Austin police say they believe the problem has improved over the years, some neighbors say more work needs to be done.