AUSTIN (KXAN) — As Austin’s population continues to increase the city is also seeing more and more people who are experiencing homelessness.
According to Echo, an organization that helps track the number of people experiencing homelessness in Austin, there are an estimated 6,683 people who experienced homelessness in Austin or Travis County on a single day in October 2023.
This number combines both unsheltered homelessness (people sleeping in tents, cars, abandoned buildings, and other places not meant to live in) and sheltered homelessness (emergency shelter, transitional housing, and other short-term indoor settings).
That number could be more or less, but one Austin company is hoping to paint a better picture of just how many people are experiencing homelessness.
“It is hard to quantify and that is in a sense the nature of the problem,” said Morgan Winters, co-founder of Nomadik AI.
Winters said the app they designed and are currently beta testing could help in the fight to end homelessness.
“What we want to do is provide that data layer so that the nonprofits and the city can actually effectively manage their resources to tailor their solutions,” said Trevor Sorrells, co-founder of Nomadik AI.
The app allows users to document and map where homeless camps are across the city.
“There is a population counter, camp counter, chemicals and kinds of drug paraphernalia [found in the camps] that people need to be aware of,” said Sorrells.
User’s can pinpoint camps and enter real time data into the app, but it’s not just for mapping.
“The user basis is comprised of individuals experiencing homelessness, as well as business owners, as well as everyone across the board. The entire city should be involved,” Winters said.
People who are experiencing homelessness can also use the app and will eventually be able to connect with resources, reach out for help or get important information on shelter locations.
“We want them to be able to request resources,” Sorrells said. “We want to partner with nonprofits such that they can say hey, I would like shelter and someone can come find them and take them.”
It can also help with site cleanup.
“In the map you can drop a pin, tell us what is going on,” Sorrells said. “You can also take inventory of camp so that makes it a little bit easier for people to go through and say this many people are here, the debris level is this high we recommend cleanup.”
So far they have mapped out more than 140 camps in the four weeks.
“We don’t want people to just take a pictures it is not for voyeurism,” said Sorrells. “It is actually to encourage people to get involved and try to help.”
The app is currently being beta tested right now and should go live for everyone in March.
Both founders are hoping to connect and partner with local non-profits over the next few weeks.
