Source: spectrumlocalnews.com 7/6/21
AUSTIN, Texas — Josiah Ingalls isn’t giving up on his plan to use private land as an encampment for people experiencing homelessness.
“Whenever you talk about housing and the homeless and that it’s not the government’s job and how people should do it and people should put them in their own backyard, well that’s what we are literally doing here,” Ingalls said.
Ingalls is in the process of forming a nonprofit called Camp Haven Sanctuary, a temporary homeless encampment aimed at addressing the homelessness crisis in Austin.
Camp Haven Sanctuary will be located at Ingalls’ home and will include RVs, designated camping areas, porta-potties, a playground and even livestock on 10 acres of land.
“Their existence on public space anywhere is going to be a crime and that means there is no other option but private land and that was the moment when I said OK, we’re going to do this and there’s no turning back,” Ingalls said.
Ingalls says he’s working with homeless advocacy groups to provide resources at the site to help folks get back into society. He also plans to open the camp in phases starting with a limited number of people, depending on what resources will be available.
Ingalls went on to say that people who come to the property can’t have a violent criminal history or be a registered sex offender and must adhere to Camp Haven Sanctuary’s no-drug policy.
The City of Austin reinstated the “No Sit/No Lie” ordinance back in May of this year, prohibiting camping in public areas.
With the Texas Legislature passing a statewide ban, Ingalls believes people are going to be out of options with nowhere to go. He tells us the ban prompted him to take action to create a safe haven by literally bringing the fight home to his backyard.
“I want this to be their safe haven while they’re transitioning from homelessness to being a productive person in a home or an apartment with a job or whatever life they can put together,” he said.
We first talked to Ingalls last month about a property in the Hornsby Glen subdivision in Austin. It’s privately owned land Ingalls plans to use as a camping site for unhoused individuals.
Ingalls says that when the idea came up to use the property in the subdivision he was also moving forward with plans to use land at his home as an encampment.
Exclusion of registrants from various public or charitable services is depressingly common, almost ubiquitous. If the goal is to reduce homelessness and to “to help folks get back into society,” eliminating the registry would promote both those goals.
Veritas.
What about the 97 homeless people listed on the registry that live in Austin Texas where they gonna go back to prison?
Still a good idea. Any private citizen willing to help the homeless is doing a good thing. I can understand (not accept) their not wanting certain populations. It is private property and there could be issues among those using it. The liability might get his homeowner’s insurance cancelled or worse, they might be held responsible/ liable for any act of violence against another person on their property. No good deed goes unpunished.
So does that mean that nobody with a violent past can change or that a person with a past sex offense cant change or any crime and some are innocent. Me and my wife came with the same idea to help the homeless and we see it like this, God will forgive everyone if they ask for it and mean it. If God can forgive like this we can too. It doesn’t matter if the person has a violent past what matters is if he/she is trying to change there way. Everybody needs to lose the idea of more punishment more prisons, oh crime has gone up more punishment more prisons We need to help them get electrician certification or welding certification, ect . then they’re less likely to commit another crime and that is what everybody wants.
Hello this is to the moderator who approves or denies comments, you denied 3 comments i tried to post and i never received any answer of why, the last post had nothing that breaks your rules for posting, why were they not approved
I don’t comprehend the hate on this private citizen trying to do some good here. If you read the whole sentence, then you can spot the classification of a registrant is that of a violent criminal. That classification is set by the state/DOJ.
Also, there is a no drug policy in place.
This is a private citizen trying to do some good, not a public entity, which registrants do pay into.
Blame the state for giving registrants the label and high level threat assessment. Notice that low level non-registrant offenders are allowed.
I read some of these comments as , “What have you done for me” in their tenor. If the guy doesn’t want certain peoples on his property, then fine by me. Not everyone gets invited to the party.
As a registrant, expect and accept the door to be slammed in your face. No good getting angry about it. You already know you are S*****d, F****d! and every other ***** you can think of. ( Is that acceptable to the moderators? )
“Ingalls went on to say that people who come to the property can’t have a violent criminal history or be a registered sex offender and must adhere to Camp Haven Sanctuary’s no-drug policy.” With this statement Mr. Ingalls makes it sounds to me as though 99% of homeless will remain homeless.