{"id":263684,"date":"2026-04-24T01:45:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T01:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/263684\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T01:45:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T01:45:27","slug":"city-of-georgetown-ordinances-restrict-homeless-support-as-nonprofit-aid-grows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/263684\/","title":{"rendered":"City of Georgetown ordinances restrict homeless support as nonprofit aid grows"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSince Georgetown City Council passed two ordinances in June 2025 that affect the unhoused population downtown, city officials and the police department have focused on enforcement and maintained a limited role in seeking homelessness solutions.<\/p>\n

Several local nonprofit organizations have found new ways to provide resources for the community and are calling on the city to fill in gaps.<\/p>\n

Still, officials maintain the ordinances are needed to address increased resident complaints and prevent the proliferation of the unhoused population.<\/p>\n

What’s happening<\/p>\n

One ordinance passed last summer makes it unlawful to sit or lie down on public property downtown. The other restricts people from distributing food and goods in publicly owned or operated parking areas unless otherwise authorized.<\/p>\n

In response, Helping Hands of Georgetown and Kat Kares, two local nonprofit organizations, relocated their volunteer efforts from the public library parking lot to St. Paul United Methodist Church.<\/p>\n

Georgetown Mayor Josh Schroeder said while homelessness is \u201ca difficult problem\u201d in Georgetown, the ordinances are designed to prevent the \u201cnumerous complaints\u201d the city has received about the unhoused community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not allowing the homeless problem that Austin allowed to proliferate through that community [to] happen in this community,\u201d Schroeder said at the March 12 State of the City address. \u201cI don\u2019t think anybody wants that.\u201d<\/p>\n

City Manager David Morgan said the city passed the ordinances to keep people safe, including the unhoused community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is that people experiencing homelessness is a growing issue across the country,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cIt\u2019s a wicked problem, which means there\u2019s no easy solution. It\u2019s going to take a lot of us handling it from different aspects to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those experiencing homelessness in the area, and others who work with homeless individuals, said the ordinances have made residing in Georgetown nearly impossible.<\/p>\n

\"chart<\/p>\n

A closer look<\/p>\n

One ordinance passed last summer makes it unlawful to sit or lie down on public property downtown. The other restricts people from distributing food and goods in publicly owned or operated parking areas unless otherwise authorized.<\/p>\n

In response, Helping Hands of Georgetown and Kat Kares, two local nonprofit organizations, relocated their volunteer efforts from the public library parking lot to St. Paul United Methodist Church.<\/p>\n

Georgetown Mayor Josh Schroeder said while homelessness is \u201ca difficult problem\u201d in Georgetown, the ordinances are designed to prevent the \u201cnumerous complaints\u201d the city has received about the unhoused community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not allowing the homeless problem that Austin allowed to proliferate through that community [to] happen in this community,\u201d Schroeder said at the March 12 State of the City address. \u201cI don\u2019t think anybody wants that.\u201d<\/p>\n

City Manager David Morgan said the city passed the ordinances to keep people safe, including the unhoused community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is that people experiencing homelessness is a growing issue across the country,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cIt\u2019s a wicked problem, which means there\u2019s no easy solution. It\u2019s going to take a lot of us handling it from different aspects to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those experiencing homelessness in the area, and others who work with homeless individuals, said the ordinances have made residing in Georgetown nearly impossible.<\/p>\n

“><\/p>\n

The approach <\/p>\n

While GPD enforces criminal trespass and illegal camping citations or arrests, Tchida said the organization knows it does not address the root cause of homelessness.<\/p>\n

Schroeder and Morgan agreed that addressing homelessness requires coordination between city staff, law enforcement and local nonprofit organizations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know there\u2019s a strong nonprofit community in Georgetown that\u2019s really focused on this,\u201d Morgan said March 12. \u201cWe stay in communication with them on a regular basis, and we are open and ready to partner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kat Kares provides free hot meals in downtown Georgetown every Friday at 4 p.m. at St. Paul\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Founder Kathy Bond said that while many local nonprofits provide indispensable services for the unhoused community, there are still gaps in care.<\/p>\n

In addition, Bond said the area lacks some services, such as drug rehabilitation and comprehensive mental health assistance.<\/p>\n

Bluebonnet Trails\u2019 Crisis Center, which has temporarily relocated from northeast Georgetown to Round Rock while undergoing renovations, is one county-funded facility that provides help to those undergoing substance abuse or mental health crises. Its inpatient care is a short-term program, lasting from a few hours to two weeks, according to its website.<\/p>\n

\"chart\"table<\/p>\n

The local impact <\/p>\n

Navigation Services of Georgetown began when Michelle Augustine realized that without proper identification, people in the unhoused community were unable to get a job, stay in a hotel or apply for an apartment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw a need, … and we just decided maybe we could do something about that,\u201d Augustine said at a Feb. 17 panel on homelessness.<\/p>\n

Bob Weiner founded Helping Hands of Georgetown to help feed the unhoused community. Today its mobile food pantry serves sack lunches Monday through Thursday, as well as warm dinners on Sundays, and provides hygiene products, blankets and sleeping bags.<\/p>\n

It also helps fill what Augustine called \u201ca major gap\u201d in Williamson County services\u2014a warming shelter during extreme weather events.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so many good people out there that help me get on my feet,\u201d said Tony Sinclair, a Williamson County resident experiencing homelessness. \u201cI just want to be normal again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Community resources for the unhoused in Williamson County<\/p>\n

Helping Hands of Georgetown: partners with the Georgetown community to address basic needs, particularly food insecurityFirst Presbyterian Church pantry: coordinates administrative needs for the unhoused communityThe Caring Place: offers food, utility, rent, transportation and medical assistance through donations and thrift store profitsKat Kares: provides free hot mealsBluebonnet Trails Community Services: provides medical and mental health assistanceLonestar Circle of Care: provides medical, dental and health careGeorgetown Behavioral Health: offers psychiatric and behavioral health careSan Gabriel Unitarian Universalist Fellowship: offers food, showers and a warm weather shelterLooking ahead <\/p>\n

In the future, Bond said she hopes the city can collaborate with local nonprofits for a more compassionate solution to homelessness. One of the best solutions would be a day shelter where unhoused folks and nonprofits could gather, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaking it more and more hostile isn\u2019t helping,\u201d Bond said.<\/p>\n

Schroeder said the city\u2019s role in combating homelessness is limited, and that some social services are outside the city\u2019s responsibility, but that city officials will not \u201clet the problem go unaddressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently, there are no city-sponsored resources specifically for those experiencing homelessness in Georgetown, Bond said.<\/p>\n

The county offers a comprehensive list of resources on its website, including directing those struggling with housing insecurity to The Caring Place.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since Georgetown City Council passed two ordinances in June 2025 that affect the unhoused population downtown, city officials…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263685,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,98767,12268,98765,98769,696,98766,98768,75227],"class_list":["post-263684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-david-morgan","tag-georgetown","tag-georgetown-police-department","tag-helping-hands-of-georgetown","tag-homelessness","tag-josh-schroeder","tag-kat-kares","tag-ordinances"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}