Tags
ACCESS, andrea ball, austin american statesman, Austin Travis County Integral Care, homelessness, mental illness
Hey all – there is this woman I know (Andrea Ball) who writes for the Austin American-Statesman. She’s been working for a while now on a very powerful piece, and I hope that everyone will please check it out. The preview is on a link below, but the full story will run on Sunday.
Here is a note from her:
Since February, I’ve been working on a story about ACCESS, a team at Austin Travis County Integral Care that helps homeless people with mental illness. The 13-member group goes wherever the homeless live — under bridges, in camps, on sidewalks — and tries to get them the services they need.
Each year, the group makes contact with 4,200 people and works closely with 600 of them. Team members then link those folks with mental and physical health care, Social Security benefits, food stamps and other services.This story is not a commentary on homelessness. It’s not an analysis of causes and solutions to the problem. It’s a profile on the people who spend their days dealing with folks that many people consider untouchable.
I hope you’ll take the time on Sunday to read this story. I think it might offer some insight into what it’s like dealing with this challenging problem. Here is a link to a video story preview on statesman.com.
That is so nice! Thank you. Have you seen the comments on the story? So horrible. As always.