District 8 Council Consideration Request for Encampment Campaign

Published on October 17, 2023

District 8 Councilman files Council Consideration Request to establish a Homeless Encampment Education Campaign

SAN ANTONIO (10/17/2023) – Councilman Manny Pelaez filed a Council Consideration Request (CCR) today, asking the City of San Antonio to coordinate a public engagement campaign as part of its homeless outreach program. A public education campaign of this nature would focus on reducing stigma, building empathy, raising awareness, and shining a light on the City of San Antonio's work to ensure that homelessness is rare, brief, and non-reoccurring. This initiative is designed to champion data transparency and ensure all residents can access a dashboard that depicts the city’s homeless outreach efforts. Components of the public education campaign should include but are not limited to: 

• Data Sharing and Transparency: make impact reports of the abatement process easily accessible and available to all residents through a dashboard.

• Awareness: inform the public about the extent of homelessness and homeless outreach efforts of the city.

• Education: clarify the abatement process to residents and dispel stereotypes of people experiencing homelessness. 

Councilman Pelaez issued the following statement:

“In our ongoing efforts to address homelessness in San Antonio, we must recognize the importance of public education and transparent data sharing. While City Staff has an established process for homeless encampment abatement, it is evident that we lack a crucial element—a public-facing campaign that informs our community of what is being done along with its impact. Through this campaign, we will ultimately foster a better-informed community committed to understanding the abatement process for people experiencing homelessness.”