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Times Opinion: Don’t ax proven ways to end homelessness

Photo by Jason Armond via Los Angeles Times/TNS / A man walks by a homeless encampment in downtown Los Angeles as a federal judge has found that the city violated the constitutional rights of homeless people in hundreds of cleanups that were not adequately documented to ensure personal property was not seized and destroyed, on Feb. 12, 2026.
Photo by Jason Armond via Los Angeles Times/TNS / A man walks by a homeless encampment in downtown Los Angeles as a federal judge has found that the city violated the constitutional rights of homeless people in hundreds of cleanups that were not adequately documented to ensure personal property was not seized and destroyed, on Feb. 12, 2026. Photo by Jason Armond via Los Angeles Times/TNS / A man walks by a homeless encampment in downtown Los Angeles as a federal judge has found that the city violated the constitutional rights of homeless people in hundreds of cleanups that were not adequately documented to ensure personal property was not seized and destroyed, on Feb. 12, 2026.

By Alfredo Reyes Jr. / Progressive Perspectives (TNS) 3 min read

Recently, I attended a meeting of an advisory task force in Austin, Texas, where I live, to urge more funding for housing and shelter. As I sat in the parking lot before going inside, I realized it was the same parking lot where, not all that long ago, I slept in a tent.

I am no longer homeless, in large part due to the American Rescue Plan Act, signed into law in March 2021 by former President Joe Biden. That law sent nearly $2 trillion to communities to help recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. And, for the first time in a long time, people struggling to find housing and healthcare felt they had the government’s support.

In Austin, the ARPA funded eviction prevention, rental assistance, shelter, permanent supportive housing and harm-reduction programs. I am among those who benefited.

I spent years cycling in and out of jail and homelessness while also battling cancer. I survived encampment sweeps, during which the city threw away our tents, blankets, food and even the harm-reduction supplies that were keeping us healthy. Each sweep erased whatever small stability I had managed to build. After I lost my birth certificate in one of the sweeps, it took me a full year to replace it.

Then, after 7 1/2 years living on the streets, I finally found housing in 2024 through a rapid rehousing voucher program funded by the ARPA. That voucher changed everything. I stabilized my health, found work and now live in an apartment where I pay my own rent.