I am fortunate to have a home, and today makes the 35th year of living in a mobile home; it is not in the best condition, but I am grateful all the same.
When we see properties being bought, new houses are being built, but the overwhelming majority are built for those individuals with middle-to-high 6-digit incomes. This clearly makes it impossible for poor people, and people with fixed or limited income, to be able to afford a home. I wish I could say that things will get better, but considering this past election, I have serious doubts, as the upcoming president will have a favorable view toward the wealthiest individuals in the nation.
So conservatives argue that the government should leave the care of those in need to the churches, and not to welfare programs funded by taxpayer dollars. But conservative politicians are also stopping churches from serving.
These men are not Christians. They have donned the cloak of Christianity to try to control the world.
This is such an important point. Paxton is supposed to represent the party of religious freedom and small government, yet he is attempting to shut down a church ministry to the homeless. It's despicable.
Ugh. As if it is a lifestyle choice to be homeless. And in this age of exorbitant housing prices caused by corporate greed, we have more homeless families than ever before. How can we unelect Ken Paxton in this state. He, Abbott and Patrick gotta go.
I agree, this is heartbreaking and appalling that any Christian would be so unloving and not have more compassion on the homeless. We must do all we can to help.
I work at a crisis center and we get a lot of homeless clients here. 🕊️🕊️🕊️
I really appreciate this essay. I live in Houston. I lived amongst the homeless for 23 years. My friends and I are doing our part to expose what is happening to Texas homeless people.
I do work with those who are justice-involved and many of them were homeless. Being in jail was the first time they were clean in years. I can definitely say that for some, and this is from their perspective, homelessness was their choice because of their desire to remain addicted. Does that mean they wanted to grow up and be addicted and homeless? Of course not. But they’re not ready to get clean. One homeless gal had a C-section and was smoking meth in the hospital hours after surgery. She ran back to the streets when the nurses called the police. She could have been taken to detox instead and her mom and dad wouldn’t have had to raise another one of her babies. It’s a super complex issue.
I won’t argue that homelessness is complex, but my pushback would be that addiction only causes homelessnsss because of how we unnecessarily criminalize something that should not be. The notion that people “desire to remain addicted” misunderstands addiction as a choice or desire. Additionally, many people experience addiction while stably housed. Too many homelessness programs exclude people with addiction when housing may be the stability they need to move out of their problematic relationship with substances. *We* make the choice that addiction keeps them homeless, not them.
Hi Kevin - glad you got into the weeds of this issue. I know that addiction isn’t a choice because I’m in recovery. So I don’t misunderstand addiction but I didn’t articulate my thoughts well. I also work with addicts and they can’t find their way out until they’re ready which leads to homelessness. Stable housing, from my point of view as a former addict and alcoholic, isn’t what would have gotten me clean. When the pain outweighs the fear of getting sober that’s when people are ready. There are a couple of saying that seem to fit here. Drugs and alcohol leads to jails, institutions or death. If you’re not there yet, you will be if you relapse. yet stands for you’re eligible too. I don’t think addiction should be criminalized, but addiction leads to criminal behavior. Blues on the street are like a dollar a pill so it’s much easier to keep high also.
I agree with Kevin here. Also, addiction is much more complex than someone "desiring" it. If you're interested in diving deeper into the science and treatment of addiction, I highly recommend Chasing The Scream by Johann Hari.
lol Thanks but I’m actually in recovery. I just relayed what an addict wants to do when they’re running from pain. Keep running. Addiction isn’t their fault for sure.
This is absolutely appalling by Ken Paxton. Sunrise is the absolute of embodiment of what it means to be the hands and feet of Jesus. No one should be under attack for HELPING the unhoused community.
Regarding the persecuted church: as a Believer, hearing Americans complain about persecution here is nothing like what groups like https://www.persecution.com/ or https://www.opendoors.org/en-US/ witness around the world. Then to use power that Abbott and Patrick have to persecute the poor is deplorable and the opposite of Jesus's commands and life. 🙏🙏🙏
Interesting that Paxton jumps on this issue when he ignored a petition submitted over a year ago with the signatures of 95 Christians laying out the case that we will assist women having to leave the state of Texas to access abortion an showing that the Christian Bible is not against abortion. (While I respect anyone’s deeply-held belief, abortion is a political and not a Biblical issue as life begins with breath and not conception or heartbeat and evangelicals largely didn’t oppose abortion until years after Roe was decided.) We got no response, I believe, because Paxton and the anti-abortion movement doesn’t want that debate because they know they will lose.
I live in an Ohio city in which our city council made it illegal to sleep outdoors in public places, an offense punishable by ever increasing fines, jail time, and criminal records. This happened even though rooms full of people, including those who are unsheltered. were there to speak against it. Council members said it would help those who are unsheltered receive services. More likely it will make it more difficult, once a criminal record is in place, for that to happen.
So very sad. Is there an accompanying increase in shelter beds or available resources? I know people aren't this dumb, which leads me to believe that they truly don't care about the welfare of these people.
I live an hour north of Austin in Temple and our church is a space for those without homes, so this is alarming to me. I am checking out the recommended book as this population and focua is new to me as I come along learning from and being with this church and its people. I wonder how we as a church should get better prepared, since we live so close by. I'll have to look into this more. Thank you for sharing it.
How can people help the Sonrise? What ate practical steps to challenge Ken Paxton? In order to challenge the case against Sonrise, it would be helpful to know what the lawsuit is about? What are the counterarguments against it?
Helpful steps are getting the word out, donations to Sunrise, and calling your elected officials. The lawsuit should be in the original article I linked to.
It looks like the lawsuit has to do with the location of its homeless facility, the fact that it has been attracting illegal drug users, and the potential and the disruption to the neighborhood and to an adjacent elementary school. Perhaps the church could relocate the homeless facility. According to the article I read, the church has received substantial public monies.
"These people do drugs in sight of children, publicly fornicate next to an elementary school, menace residents with machetes, urinate and defecate on public grounds, and generally terrorize the surrounding community."
The Sunrise facility has become a "magnet" for "rampant crimes" in the area committed by homeless individuals, including near the local elementary school, the complaint alleges.
The attorney general's office found that in the past several years, people who received services from Sunrise "have repeatedly broken into the school or otherwise forced the school to enter into 'lockdown' due to violent behavior."
According to Paxton's office, the city of Austin has contributed more than $1 million taxpayer dollars to Sunrise."
This is terrible though. You should advocate for specific solutions rather than forcing people to take one or the other. Maybe see if you can get a cop or camera system there or even free bus tickets out to the city. There's nobody in the world who is going to accept this.
It’s important to point out that you’re quoting someone (Ken Paxton) who has been under FBI investigation for corruption and lying since 2020. He has also repeatedly used his power as attorney general to attack his ideological opponents.
I highly doubt he's lying about a local elementary school being broken into and being on lockdown. That's an easy police report to find. My main issue I had to search for was whether the neighborhood was just worried about home prices. Have you been there or engaged with it? I think this can be an easy fix if everyone focuses on solutions. That shouldn't shut down and those schools should not be locking down. Both of those are desirable.
There is no police report or news story I can find of Joslin having to go on lockdown due to unhoused people. There have been issues in the neighborhood and Sunrise continues to work with the elementary school, the police, and the homeowners. I live 5 minutes from Sunrise and have known the leaders there for a decade. I’m speaking from first hand experience.
I'm finding news reports that this is an issue and it really shouldn't be. Idk if it's blown out of proportion to whatever degree but any of these are deal breakers for anyone with kids. It says in the article that Sunrise is doing the best they can and God bless them for that but clearly something isn't enough and we need some realistic ideas and goals to achieve. Idk if it's more volunteers with a van or what but obviously this has gone up to the Texas AG. Idk if it's too late but try to get in dialogue with them with a plan and work something out. Point out whatever alternatives there are and how you're working with them. A church has to be in the community as well. There are a lot of factors here that have to be figured out.
Shawn you're very quickly shifting the conversation as though you didn't lead with serious claims that Zach disproved. You started out with "lockdowns!", "break-ins!", "machetes! drugs! fornication!", and yet there is no proof of any of these things. the only source for them is Paxton, who is under investigation for lies and corruption.
So, no. You don't get to shift this to "well, something needs to be figured out." The church and the school and the local police work together to make these things are not an issue, and the AG is simply targeting an organization he disagrees with. That's the story, as presented above.
I'm not your enemy or someone debating you, I'm a Christian brother who sees a homeless shelter that needs to exist and the Texas ag threatening to shut them down. I haven't looked in the police reports so I have no idea what the situation is. I imagine anyone against the Texas ag politically, which is what I'm trying to avoid, would immediately call him out (and there are many in Austen who disagree vehemently against the Texas ag). I see in reddit posts and news reports some deal breakers happening. There is no world in which people are going to find naked homeless people breaking into their house with young children to be acceptable. I don't put that on the homeless shelter but if the whole community is against it, there exists law breaking and the Texas ag is involved then common sense tells you something has to be fixed even if it's ending the deal breakers, building trust with the community and having the whole community go against the Texas ag. I'm not sure how it should be handled but the political response follows community trust and legal issues.
Edit: the alternative may be to continue letting community trust fail, legal issues build up and have the Texas ag shut it down. I'm not really sure what's the issue with figuring these issues out.
Second edit: the quotes from Paxton are in a court filing so at the very least if he's lying so easily about school lockdowns, machetes, public nudity, school break ins etc then at least we'll quickly be able to know. The sunrise community shelter can show there's no evidence.
Yes- please keep contacting your representatives! Please also consider calling your U.S. senators about the bill coming their way that has passed the house- HR 9495. Its title seems good, in that it is anti-terror, but further in the bill it gives expansive leeway to the executive branch to dismantle non-profits if they decide they are aiding terrorists. This could have major implications for service organizations like churches, depending on who the political winds declare are terrorists.
I am fortunate to have a home, and today makes the 35th year of living in a mobile home; it is not in the best condition, but I am grateful all the same.
When we see properties being bought, new houses are being built, but the overwhelming majority are built for those individuals with middle-to-high 6-digit incomes. This clearly makes it impossible for poor people, and people with fixed or limited income, to be able to afford a home. I wish I could say that things will get better, but considering this past election, I have serious doubts, as the upcoming president will have a favorable view toward the wealthiest individuals in the nation.
This is well-said, Rock. I'm praying it will get better, but working like it won't.
So conservatives argue that the government should leave the care of those in need to the churches, and not to welfare programs funded by taxpayer dollars. But conservative politicians are also stopping churches from serving.
These men are not Christians. They have donned the cloak of Christianity to try to control the world.
This is such an important point. Paxton is supposed to represent the party of religious freedom and small government, yet he is attempting to shut down a church ministry to the homeless. It's despicable.
Ugh. As if it is a lifestyle choice to be homeless. And in this age of exorbitant housing prices caused by corporate greed, we have more homeless families than ever before. How can we unelect Ken Paxton in this state. He, Abbott and Patrick gotta go.
I agree, this is heartbreaking and appalling that any Christian would be so unloving and not have more compassion on the homeless. We must do all we can to help.
I work at a crisis center and we get a lot of homeless clients here. 🕊️🕊️🕊️
I love that you work at a crisis center, Tonya!
I really appreciate this essay. I live in Houston. I lived amongst the homeless for 23 years. My friends and I are doing our part to expose what is happening to Texas homeless people.
Thank you for your work, Gloria!
I do work with those who are justice-involved and many of them were homeless. Being in jail was the first time they were clean in years. I can definitely say that for some, and this is from their perspective, homelessness was their choice because of their desire to remain addicted. Does that mean they wanted to grow up and be addicted and homeless? Of course not. But they’re not ready to get clean. One homeless gal had a C-section and was smoking meth in the hospital hours after surgery. She ran back to the streets when the nurses called the police. She could have been taken to detox instead and her mom and dad wouldn’t have had to raise another one of her babies. It’s a super complex issue.
I won’t argue that homelessness is complex, but my pushback would be that addiction only causes homelessnsss because of how we unnecessarily criminalize something that should not be. The notion that people “desire to remain addicted” misunderstands addiction as a choice or desire. Additionally, many people experience addiction while stably housed. Too many homelessness programs exclude people with addiction when housing may be the stability they need to move out of their problematic relationship with substances. *We* make the choice that addiction keeps them homeless, not them.
I will mention to my sober friends and clients tho about your perspective and see what they say!
Hi Kevin - glad you got into the weeds of this issue. I know that addiction isn’t a choice because I’m in recovery. So I don’t misunderstand addiction but I didn’t articulate my thoughts well. I also work with addicts and they can’t find their way out until they’re ready which leads to homelessness. Stable housing, from my point of view as a former addict and alcoholic, isn’t what would have gotten me clean. When the pain outweighs the fear of getting sober that’s when people are ready. There are a couple of saying that seem to fit here. Drugs and alcohol leads to jails, institutions or death. If you’re not there yet, you will be if you relapse. yet stands for you’re eligible too. I don’t think addiction should be criminalized, but addiction leads to criminal behavior. Blues on the street are like a dollar a pill so it’s much easier to keep high also.
I agree with Kevin here. Also, addiction is much more complex than someone "desiring" it. If you're interested in diving deeper into the science and treatment of addiction, I highly recommend Chasing The Scream by Johann Hari.
lol Thanks but I’m actually in recovery. I just relayed what an addict wants to do when they’re running from pain. Keep running. Addiction isn’t their fault for sure.
This is absolutely appalling by Ken Paxton. Sunrise is the absolute of embodiment of what it means to be the hands and feet of Jesus. No one should be under attack for HELPING the unhoused community.
I completely agree and Paxton continues to show that there is no end to his commitment to cruelty.
Regarding the persecuted church: as a Believer, hearing Americans complain about persecution here is nothing like what groups like https://www.persecution.com/ or https://www.opendoors.org/en-US/ witness around the world. Then to use power that Abbott and Patrick have to persecute the poor is deplorable and the opposite of Jesus's commands and life. 🙏🙏🙏
Interesting that Paxton jumps on this issue when he ignored a petition submitted over a year ago with the signatures of 95 Christians laying out the case that we will assist women having to leave the state of Texas to access abortion an showing that the Christian Bible is not against abortion. (While I respect anyone’s deeply-held belief, abortion is a political and not a Biblical issue as life begins with breath and not conception or heartbeat and evangelicals largely didn’t oppose abortion until years after Roe was decided.) We got no response, I believe, because Paxton and the anti-abortion movement doesn’t want that debate because they know they will lose.
I live in an Ohio city in which our city council made it illegal to sleep outdoors in public places, an offense punishable by ever increasing fines, jail time, and criminal records. This happened even though rooms full of people, including those who are unsheltered. were there to speak against it. Council members said it would help those who are unsheltered receive services. More likely it will make it more difficult, once a criminal record is in place, for that to happen.
So very sad. Is there an accompanying increase in shelter beds or available resources? I know people aren't this dumb, which leads me to believe that they truly don't care about the welfare of these people.
I live an hour north of Austin in Temple and our church is a space for those without homes, so this is alarming to me. I am checking out the recommended book as this population and focua is new to me as I come along learning from and being with this church and its people. I wonder how we as a church should get better prepared, since we live so close by. I'll have to look into this more. Thank you for sharing it.
So glad to hear your church is doing this great work. Sending prayers to y’all.
How can people help the Sonrise? What ate practical steps to challenge Ken Paxton? In order to challenge the case against Sonrise, it would be helpful to know what the lawsuit is about? What are the counterarguments against it?
Helpful steps are getting the word out, donations to Sunrise, and calling your elected officials. The lawsuit should be in the original article I linked to.
i am up for contacting elected officials. I try with issues I care about.
It looks like the lawsuit has to do with the location of its homeless facility, the fact that it has been attracting illegal drug users, and the potential and the disruption to the neighborhood and to an adjacent elementary school. Perhaps the church could relocate the homeless facility. According to the article I read, the church has received substantial public monies.
"These people do drugs in sight of children, publicly fornicate next to an elementary school, menace residents with machetes, urinate and defecate on public grounds, and generally terrorize the surrounding community."
The Sunrise facility has become a "magnet" for "rampant crimes" in the area committed by homeless individuals, including near the local elementary school, the complaint alleges.
The attorney general's office found that in the past several years, people who received services from Sunrise "have repeatedly broken into the school or otherwise forced the school to enter into 'lockdown' due to violent behavior."
According to Paxton's office, the city of Austin has contributed more than $1 million taxpayer dollars to Sunrise."
This is terrible though. You should advocate for specific solutions rather than forcing people to take one or the other. Maybe see if you can get a cop or camera system there or even free bus tickets out to the city. There's nobody in the world who is going to accept this.
It’s important to point out that you’re quoting someone (Ken Paxton) who has been under FBI investigation for corruption and lying since 2020. He has also repeatedly used his power as attorney general to attack his ideological opponents.
I highly doubt he's lying about a local elementary school being broken into and being on lockdown. That's an easy police report to find. My main issue I had to search for was whether the neighborhood was just worried about home prices. Have you been there or engaged with it? I think this can be an easy fix if everyone focuses on solutions. That shouldn't shut down and those schools should not be locking down. Both of those are desirable.
There is no police report or news story I can find of Joslin having to go on lockdown due to unhoused people. There have been issues in the neighborhood and Sunrise continues to work with the elementary school, the police, and the homeowners. I live 5 minutes from Sunrise and have known the leaders there for a decade. I’m speaking from first hand experience.
I'm finding news reports that this is an issue and it really shouldn't be. Idk if it's blown out of proportion to whatever degree but any of these are deal breakers for anyone with kids. It says in the article that Sunrise is doing the best they can and God bless them for that but clearly something isn't enough and we need some realistic ideas and goals to achieve. Idk if it's more volunteers with a van or what but obviously this has gone up to the Texas AG. Idk if it's too late but try to get in dialogue with them with a plan and work something out. Point out whatever alternatives there are and how you're working with them. A church has to be in the community as well. There are a lot of factors here that have to be figured out.
https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/concerns-grow-over-homeless-activity-near-south-austin-elementary-school/
Edit: these are reddit users here but there's a lot of distrust even if they're lying https://www.reddit.com/r/Austin/comments/1cy15da/concerns_grow_over_homeless_activity_near_south/
Shawn you're very quickly shifting the conversation as though you didn't lead with serious claims that Zach disproved. You started out with "lockdowns!", "break-ins!", "machetes! drugs! fornication!", and yet there is no proof of any of these things. the only source for them is Paxton, who is under investigation for lies and corruption.
So, no. You don't get to shift this to "well, something needs to be figured out." The church and the school and the local police work together to make these things are not an issue, and the AG is simply targeting an organization he disagrees with. That's the story, as presented above.
You do not get to pretend to be reasonable now.
I'm not your enemy or someone debating you, I'm a Christian brother who sees a homeless shelter that needs to exist and the Texas ag threatening to shut them down. I haven't looked in the police reports so I have no idea what the situation is. I imagine anyone against the Texas ag politically, which is what I'm trying to avoid, would immediately call him out (and there are many in Austen who disagree vehemently against the Texas ag). I see in reddit posts and news reports some deal breakers happening. There is no world in which people are going to find naked homeless people breaking into their house with young children to be acceptable. I don't put that on the homeless shelter but if the whole community is against it, there exists law breaking and the Texas ag is involved then common sense tells you something has to be fixed even if it's ending the deal breakers, building trust with the community and having the whole community go against the Texas ag. I'm not sure how it should be handled but the political response follows community trust and legal issues.
Edit: the alternative may be to continue letting community trust fail, legal issues build up and have the Texas ag shut it down. I'm not really sure what's the issue with figuring these issues out.
Second edit: the quotes from Paxton are in a court filing so at the very least if he's lying so easily about school lockdowns, machetes, public nudity, school break ins etc then at least we'll quickly be able to know. The sunrise community shelter can show there's no evidence.
Getting the word out, donations to Sunrise, and calling your elected officials. Thanks, Marci!
Yes- please keep contacting your representatives! Please also consider calling your U.S. senators about the bill coming their way that has passed the house- HR 9495. Its title seems good, in that it is anti-terror, but further in the bill it gives expansive leeway to the executive branch to dismantle non-profits if they decide they are aiding terrorists. This could have major implications for service organizations like churches, depending on who the political winds declare are terrorists.
Thanks for the heads up, Linda.