KILLEEN, Texas — Back in January the City of Killeen reported the number of homeless persons in town was 169—so why is there a new homeless camp on Bremser Avenue?
Killeen City Council Member Jose Segarra told 25 News that the problem isn’t unique to Killeen.
”It’s growing more and more in cities, and I think a lot of that is contributed to home value increases,” Segarra said.
“It’s getting more and more expensive to rent a house and buy a house.”
Friends in Crisis, the only homeless shelter in Killeen, said they are seeing the effects of those rent hikes.
”Places are very expensive,” said Director of Programs for Friends in Crisis, Suzane Amour.
“We’re seeing a lot of folks maybe staying in the shelter a little bit longer than they normally would.”
That doesn’t account for people still on the street.
The new homeless camp that has popped up on Bremser Avenue is something Segarra said the city is looking into.
”It’s hard to police them up in all the different areas, but we do monitor that stuff,” Segarra said.
“I’m sure the Killeen Police Department goes out there and monitors it, but it’s a big challenge.”
It’s easy to drive down the street and assume that they all suffer from drug addiction or mental illness.
Friends in Crisis said that isn’t the case.
”So many of our clients have jobs,” Amour said.
“They come here, and then they go to work, and come back at night. There's a whole separate subset population that involves families.”
They are seeing more and more families coming to them for help.
”These are folks there were just living paycheck to paycheck like so many of us do, and then you fall in very quickly into a situation where you’re not able to pay rent,” Amour said.
Friends in Crisis said the main thing people in Killeen can do is remember every homeless person is a human being and everyone has a different story that put them on the street.
The Killeen Police Department told 25 News that they are addressing the camp on Bremser Avenue.
