Publications
by EDUCO
Read about our impact, recent successes, and how we are making a difference with and in the lives of returning citizens, as well as healing neighborhoods throughout the country.
Press Releases
Residents at Arch and 8th Street Homeless Shelters to Receive Job Training Through Austin Community College
Unhoused guests staying at the ARCH and 8th Street homeless shelters will soon be able to take a training program in heating and air conditioning maintenance through Austin Community College.
The City of Birmingham Taps Urban Alchemy to Manage a Community-Based Public Safety Program
The City of Birmingham has selected California-based organization Urban Alchemy to lead a new program focused on serving unhoused residents in crisis.
Urban Alchemy Welcomes New CFO: Melek Totah
Urban Alchemy has hired Melek Totah as its new chief financial officer. She brings more than 20 years of experience working with nonprofits and publicly traded companies to manage and improve their financial controls and processes.
Urban Alchemy Hires Dr. Lisa De La Rue as Director of Training
Urban Alchemy is announcing that it has hired Dr. Lisa De La Rue to serve as Director of Training. Dr. De La Rue, who holds a PhD in counseling psychology, will be the first person to fulfill this important role.
Mayor London Breed, Stanford Researchers, and Urban Alchemy Announce 52% Decrease in Crime Rates in Ambassador-served Areas
Mayor London Breed, Urban Alchemy, Stanford researchers and community members celebrated the drop in crime in the Urban-Alchemy-served neighborhoods of San Francisco, which was showcased in the results of a new Stanford University study.
In the News
Urban Alchemy helps SF clean up the streets, puts formerly incarcerated on path to careers
Urban Alchemy, founded in 2018, prioritizes hiring former long-term offenders (LTOs) — people with life sentences who spent decades in prison — as practitioners and ambassadors to help keep streets clean and safe in areas struggling with extreme poverty, addiction, mental illness and hopelessness.
Mayor Kirk Watson talks efforts to shelter homeless amid dangerous summer heat
The city also recently announced that in partnership with nonprofit Urban Alchemy a parking lot in downtown Austin has been turned into a place where people experiencing homelessness can get reprieve and be connected to resources. You can read more about that here.
Austin’s new HEART program offers a compassionate alternative to police for the homeless
Urban Alchemy has partnered up with the Downtown Austin Alliance to get the homeless help they need, without getting police involved. “It’s like being around a room full of angels,” said Jackie Webb, who was helped by the Homelessness Engagement Response Team.
Homeless Non-Profit Settles with City Controller Over Subpoena
Earlier this year, City Controller Kenneth Mejia began an investigation into Urban Alchemy, a city-vendor contracted with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority to run climate stations — where Skid Row residents can receive services and relief from harsh winter and summer weather.
Commissioner Rene Gonzalez Objects to Lobbying Rule Change
The office found that the California nonprofit, which runs the city’s mass encampment at Clinton Triangle, had failed to disclose meetings and visits with the mayor’s office in 2022 as it sought the contract.
Municipio de Austin activa centro de recursos para ayudar a indigentes durante el verano (Austin Municipality activates resource center to help homeless people during the summer)
El recinto operará en colaboración con Urban Alchemy, una organización sin fines de lucro que ofrece albergue y servicios en las dependencias de ARCH. (The facility will operate in collaboration with Urban Alchemy, a nonprofit organization that provides shelter and services at ARCH facilities.)
Nonprofit hopes to turn Downtown Austin parking lot into ‘The Oasis’
The nonprofit Urban Alchemy, which runs the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH) and the Eighth Street Shelter, is transforming the downtown parking lot into a place where people can have water, coffee and food, or simply get away from the heat.
Austin parking lot transforms into ‘The Oasis,’ a summer resource center for the homeless
A downtown Austin parking lot turns into a homeless resource center for the summer, thanks to the city of Austin’s partnership with nonprofit Urban Alchemy. “I’m very grateful for it,” said guest Kimberly Parsons.
Everyday Heroes: Toshio Takanobu creates culture and community where you least expect it
As Toshio Takanobu walks us through Clinton Triangle in Southeast Portland, we quickly learn he’s a popular guy. Guest Susan Davis hugs Toshio and says, “he smiles when he greets you and it’s just warming for the heart. If you need help with anything, he immediately is right on that.
‘The Evergreen’: At Portland’s largest outdoor homeless shelter, residents await their next step towards housing
As the U.S. Supreme Court considers a case that could change city homelessness policy nationwide, we zoom in on the Clinton Triangle shelter in Portland, and look at how it’s been working for residents trying to leave homelessness behind.
Drug overdoses leading cause of accidental death in Travis County for third year
That’s something groups like Urban Alchemy, which runs the ARCH shelter downtown, says is a tool they’re using regardless. They’ve deployed a three-part strategy, which they say they’ve seen a lot of success with in their California locations.
Study: Tiny home villages more effective than shelters A Portland State University study finds they are better at getting formerly homeless people permanently
Since Wilks moved into the large sleeping pod site about 10 months ago, she has been hospitalized twice but has “never felt so loved,” she said. “Urban Alchemy staff came and got me from the hospital and they made me feel cared about and like it is worth living,” Wilks said.