Austin officials say a new strategy for clearing and removing homeless encampments will bring order and consistency to how departments prioritize and conduct such sweeps. The strategy was developed starting last November in response to voters passing Proposition B to put a citywide camping ban back on the books.

A bright white vending machine was recently affixed to the east brick wall of the Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center. It’s doing exactly what Em Gray had hoped — just a whole lot faster than she expected

Organizaciones comunitarias han unido fuerzas para instalar esta máquina del medicamento Narcan, usado para tratar sobredosis de drogas. Esta iniciativa ha recibido algunas críticas.

A vending machine full of life-saving medication is now installed on the side of Sunrise Community Church in South Austin.

The start of Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s monthly board of directors meeting yesterday had a different feel than usual. Typically, a few speakers may approach the podium to speak in support of or against an item on the agenda. Yesterday, however, advocates and members of Austin’s unhoused community packed the Rosa Parks Boardroom to implore Capital Metro to make some transportation services free for people experiencing homelessness.

AUSTIN, Texas (NewsNation) — As more states work to reduce the damage being done by the opioid epidemic, Austin’s first Narcan vending machine now sits outside of a church and homeless day center.

Now the county’s first Narcan vending machine sits outside the church and Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center...The N.I.C.E. Project (Narcan in Case of Emergency) partnered with Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center to provide 24/7 access to life-saving medication. Read More or Watch Here

Austin, Texas – The N.I.C.E. Project (Narcan in Case of Emergency) opens their first barrier-free Narcan distribution site at the Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center to provide 24/7 access to the overdose-reversal medication Narcan.

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.

As the current dialogue around homelessness in Austin continues to intensify, Mark Hilbelink, lead pastor of Sunrise Community Church in Austin, joins Alan on this week’s episode of the Gospel Con Carne podcast for a hope-filled conversation around serving our friends who are struggling to survive on the streets

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.

It's 500 Day at Sunrise! We're celebrating 500 clients housed! Check out Helen & Vernon's story and help partner with Sunrise to steer the next 500 out of homelessness!