AUSTIN – Caritas of Austin cut the ribbon on its first housing development this month, providing people ending their homelessness access to safe, stable places to live paired with supportive services.

The development, called Espero Rutland, adds 171 studio apartments to the Austin/Travis County Homelessness Response System. People started moving into the units in January.

“Right now I am overjoyed. I am overwhelmed. If I was young enough, I would do some cartwheels and handstands. And now I can just smile for you, tell you, it’s a good feeling,” Espero resident Felicia Perkins told KVUE during the grand opening celebration.

Read on Caritas’ blog: A Day in the Life of A Supportive Housing Resident

Importantly, these are site-based units, meaning case management and other supportive services can be located in the development. This eliminates the need for someone to visit multiple providers in the community to have their care needs met, a time-consuming and often difficult process for people living with disabilities in Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH).

Espero Rutland represents the first step in a significant expansion of our community’s site-based PSH. Homeless Strategy Officer David Gray told City Council members this month his office expects a 300% increase in the number of site-based units by the end of this year.

By the end of 2026, we expect housing providers will add more than 1,000 site-based PSH units to our system.