Stacy Brooks, a 47-year-old mother of seven from Amarillo, was living in a homeless camp near downtown Austin in February 2024.
Stacy Brooks, a 47-year-old mother of seven from Amarillo, was living in a homeless camp near downtown Austin in February 2024.
The late Teresa Mears, a longtime member of the Austin homeless community. She died of cancer on November 13, 2022.
The late Elroy “Jamaica” Smith passed away on June 19, 2022, after suffering a stroke during a Texas heat wave. He was a beloved member of the downtown Austin homeless community.
“This is family”: Art Randle, the sketch artist of Sixth Street, embraces a dear friend who had formerly lived in the Austin unhoused community.
By a strange twist of fate, Brian Scott Smith and his mother, Amy Warner, temporarily lived together in the downtown Austin homeless community. Tragically, Amy was killed by a stray bullet on August 27, 2020. Scotty was a member of the South Austin unhoused population when he died on August 5, 2021, at the age of 24.
In 2018, U.S. Navy veteran Thomas Debolds was living outside on 11th Street in East Austin. He slept on a bench partially hidden behind a tiled mosaic mural, where he kept his prescription pills and other essential items.
In February 2021, Hobbit Fowler somehow survived on his own, outside, during Winter Storm Uri.
In summer 2021, Ronnie Vara and her boyfriend, Gabriel Willard, were living beneath Ben White Boulevard in South Austin.
In 2021, Frank Lee Jackson was living in a homeless camp under I-35 in downtown Austin.
Jermaine Watson, Sixth Street, downtown Austin.
From left, Cat Fako, photographer Camille Wheeler, and Hobbit Fowler on Sixth Street.
Art Randle, the sketch artist of Sixth Street.
Congress Avenue, 2016: Caster and Daria, the dog he owned with his girlfriend, Cat Fako.
In 2020, abstract artist Ellie was one of some 140 people living at a campsite in southeast Austin. Today, the camp is a tremendous success under the direction of The Other Ones Foundation.
Christmas 2017: Running Wolf and his dog, Spade, in downtown Austin.
Several years ago, Adam Chavez left the unhoused community of Sixth Street and ultimately found a new home at the Community First Village, a master planned community in Southeast Austin that provides affordable and permanent housing for individuals coming out of chronic homelessness.
Sixth Street portrait of David Holman.
The late Mark Foster was a familiar figure at the intersection of U.S. 290 and Westgate Boulevard in South Austin.
February 2021: Ambra Hall and Raymond Thompson during Winter Storm Uri in downtown Austin.
Sixth Street portrait: Sherry Walles, a member of the unhoused population in downtown Austin.
Portrait of Dominique in downtown Austin.
February 2021: Teri Klima and her dog, Billy Jo, during Winter Storm Uri in Austin.
In September 2021, Timothy Cummings and his dog, Sassy, were living in his pickup truck at a homeless camp in downtown Austin.
One of the kindest souls in the downtown Austin homeless community, Maggie Lechinger, left, is always reaching out to those in need.
Sixth Street: Shawn O’Kane, a decorated U.S. Army veteran, lives in a tent in South Austin. He and his dog, Angel, frequently ride the bus to downtown Austin.
Osei Long and his dog, Spoils, on Congress Avenue in downtown Austin.
Sixth Street: Virgil Robert Fuqua is a member of the downtown Austin homeless community.
Since this day in downtown Austin in February 2016, David Watkins has continued to find his way in the city’s homeless community. At present, he is availing himself of the network of services offered at the Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center.
Newly engaged: Amy and Joshua on Sixth Street.
Jeanna Danner is a familiar face in the unhoused community on Sixth Street in downtown Austin.
Denver pushes Tony Noble across Sixth Street in downtown Austin. Formerly unhoused, Denver is now a staunch advocate for the homeless population.
Friends Maggie Lechinger, left, and Leah Draper on Sixth Street in downtown Austin.
Brenda is one of the most vulnerable members of the downtown Austin homeless community.
In spring 2021, a lengthy “tent-in” was held at City Hall in protest of Proposition B, a measure approved by voters that restored a public camping ban in Austin.
Sharita is a familiar face in the downtown Austin unhoused community.
Sixth Street portrait: Tommy.
Close friends Catherine “Cat” Fako and Cody “Transam” Cottrell are two of the most familiar figures in downtown Austin.
Sixth Street portrait: Josh Steward belongs to the unhoused community in downtown Austin.
Sixth Street portrait: Cody “Transam” Cottrell is a longtime member of the unhoused community in downtown Austin. Cody has been confined to a wheelchair for several years now. He is battling avascular necrosis, a painful disease that results from lack of blood supply to bone tissue and can lead to bone collapse.
Tony Noble, a member of the Austin unhoused community. A massive scar from open-heart surgery runs down his chest, and his body also bears the scars of surgery that repaired his shattered bones from an accident in which he was hit by a car.
In November 2019, Joseph Nicholas and his girlfriend, Amanda Grassy, were living in a tent beneath I-35 in downtown Austin.
Shirley Erskin, a former member of the unhoused community in downtown Austin, now lives in an apartment with her longtime partner, Michael “Cowboy” Alexander.
In September 2021, the Austin Police Department and contract workers cleared a homeless encampment from beneath I-35 in downtown Austin. Many people were displaced, and they watched the destruction of their tents and belongings.
In 2020, George Floyd’s killing by a Minneapolis police officer sparked protests in Austin and across the U.S.
Juneteenth parade 2021, East Austin.
SXSW Music Festival on Sixth Street in downtown Austin.
July 2016: Civil rights advocate Fatima Mann at a Black Lives Matter rally at the Texas Capitol in Austin.
SXSW Music Festival on Sixth Street in downtown Austin.
The late Richard Overton, who at the time of his death on December 27, 2018, was the oldest World War II veteran in the U.S. This photo was taken at his 112th birthday party on May 11, 2018.
R.L., East Austin.
Photographer Camille Wheeler at work on Sixth Street.