Heart Response Team launches in Birmingham
Recently, Urban Alchemy launched HEART, which is the Birmingham Homeless Engagement Assistance Response Team.
Recently, Urban Alchemy launched HEART, which is the Birmingham Homeless Engagement Assistance Response Team.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said there are currently 350 homeless people on the streets of the city, and this week many of them are shivering and trying to stay warm.
Urban Alchemy announced the official launch of the Birmingham Homeless Engagement Assistance Response Team (HEART), a community-based public safety program focused on people experiencing homelessness, addiction, and/or mental health crises.
350.
That’s the number of people without housing across the city of Birmingham. A city initiative hopes to change that, though, and it’s coming just in time, ahead of the expected cold weather later this week.
A pilot program aimed at both improving safety on Sixth Street and connecting people experiencing homelessness with necessary resources is expanding.
Urban Alchemy’s secret to successfully connecting with the unhoused population is its staff, 95% of which are people who were formerly incarcerated or unhoused.
The City of Austin’s Homeless Strategy Office (HSO) and its partners successfully transitioned over 100 unhoused residents to housing just in time for the holidays.
The Urban Alchemy team is now working to improve the lives of the unhoused in Birmingham. The Homeless Engagement Assistance Response Team, or H.E.A.R.T team were on 14th Street North on Tuesday trying to connect those who are hurting with various resources to improve their lives.
Ahead of the drop in temperatures next week, one group is working to make sure Austinites stay warm. Urban Alchemy hosted a coat giveaway on Saturday at Elm Ridge Apartments in East Austin.
The 20-week program will help those in the class earn their HVAC certification.
As temperatures drop, a nonprofit offers 24/7 services in Skid Row. Urban Alchemy is providing climate stations on Towne, San Pedro, and Maple/5th Streets in Skid Row for unhoused people. The stations offer essential supplies and support during these challenging winter months. The organization offers space heaters, serves warm beverages, provides food, socks and more for those in need.
Wednesday is expected to be another cold night in Austin, with temperatures dipping into the 30s. However, that won’t meet the threshold to open the city’s cold weather shelters for a second day in a row. That’s where Urban Alchemy, which runs the Eighth Street Shelter and the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH), is stepping in and inviting those in need to “The Oasis.”