Compassion Waco also does good work with the homeless, primarily with families. It's a transitional shelter allowing residents up to six months. They work on life skills, budgeting, job placement, and help with obstacles to job placement. (Proper clothes for an interview, medical/dental needs, glasses, etc.) They have a good track record with families that finish the program still on their own after a year with a place to live that they are paying for. Last I recall from when I was involved it was in excess of 60% of the families making it on their own a year after leaving the shelter.

Take a look at Mission Waco's Creekside Community that is about to go online. It is modeled on some successful projects in larger cities.


https://www.kwtx.com/video/2025/07/22/mission-waco-shares-update-creekside-community-village-how-you-can-help/
https://baylorlariat.com/2025/03/05/mission-wacos-creekside-community-village-to-counter-homelessness-in-waco/

We'll always have the poor and homeless. But why?

FrankFallonCalling said:

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Take a look at Mission Waco's Creekside Community that is about to go online. It is modeled on some successful projects in larger cities.


https://www.kwtx.com/video/2025/07/22/mission-waco-shares-update-creekside-community-village-how-you-can-help/
https://baylorlariat.com/2025/03/05/mission-wacos-creekside-community-village-to-counter-homelessness-in-waco/

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They are doing great work. Unfortunately, had a 4 million dollar federal grant cancelled earlier in the year, but still pressing onward.

UrsinusInfction said:

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FrankFallonCalling said:

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Take a look at Mission Waco's Creekside Community that is about to go online. It is modeled on some successful projects in larger cities.


https://www.kwtx.com/video/2025/07/22/mission-waco-shares-update-creekside-community-village-how-you-can-help/
https://baylorlariat.com/2025/03/05/mission-wacos-creekside-community-village-to-counter-homelessness-in-waco/

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They are doing great work. Unfortunately, had a 4 million dollar federal grant cancelled earlier in the year, but still pressing onward.

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i was very curious how this is being funded.

Volunteering at a Phoenix homeless shelter opened my eyes to a truer story of who/what the homeless are. The facility was a re-purposed warehouse that had several cots on the floor, a shower area and a dining area. Most of the clients would come in after work, shower, eat and go to bed. Several carried tool belts and other necessities of their trade.

Most of the working homeless were there because of a failed marriage or foreclosure and had nowhere else to go. For the most part these guys understood they were starting the climb again from the bottom rung. Most seemed to take it in their stride and most were saving up for the day when they could afford their own place.

One trait they all had in common was gratitude. There were a lot of sincere thank you and bless you greetings in that place.

My sister, (the bleeding heart liberal) had a much different experience with street people during her 20+ years working at the VA psych services and a women's protective services house after retirement.

At the VA she monitored several homeless vets who were diagnosed with PTSD and who also had fathered several children with multiple women. The $3600/month they received from the government could not be garnished to pay for child support, by law. These vets had to sit for a review of their mental health status at the VA every 3-4 months They were encouraged to find full-tome work and weave themselves back into society.

Those in the bunch who were the true grifters would only work day jobs for cash or some sort of helping-hand program where the employer could waive all withholding for a certain period of time. For the most part they did great work, she say's. Once the timeline ran out on the program and the vets were offered full-time work, they bolted, showed up drunk if at all and generally tanked any effort to bring them back into the mainstream.

For sure there are many vets who have chosen to be responsible with their lives, despite their dire circumstances. To those men/women I/we truly respect and honor.

The safe-house for women where my sister worked was truly bizarre. Several of the women taken in to the shelter had been the 'property' of gang leaders or drug lords. The bars on the windows and the security doors were in place to keep gangsters out as much as it was to keep their girlfriends in.

Much of the clientele were not happy in their surroundings and missed their hoochie-coo days on the dark side. You see, the beatings and mutilations are the rake for continuing to be members of the club. God help them.

Despite her experiences, my sis continues to think that government programs and taxpayer dollars are the answer to the problem...and better people, of course. Chortle, Chortle. God bless her.

This may be dated since your conversation with the business owner was over homecoming, but one suggestion for him rather than calling the police might be to reach out to the folks at Mission Waco to get their input and suggestions.

On a related front, here is a link to a recent article in the Waco Trib on the Creekside project. It sounds like they are close to getting the first 35 "little houses" up in the next month or so, and ultimately hope to have housing for 240 homeless and 60 others.

https://wacotrib.com/news/local/article_1324247e-9b08-4328-aa60-7016540aed8d.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share

Leonidas said:

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This may be dated since your conversation with the business owner was over homecoming, but one suggestion for him rather than calling the police might be to reach out to the folks at Mission Waco to get their input and suggestions.

On a related front, here is a link to a recent article in the Waco Trib on the Creekside project. It sounds like they are close to getting the first 35 "little houses" up in the next month or so, and ultimately hope to have housing for 240 homeless and 60 others.

https://wacotrib.com/news/local/article_1324247e-9b08-4328-aa60-7016540aed8d.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share

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Great thought. I may drive through there this week and see if I can find him. His thought re: the police was not to sweep the area, but to figure out a plan to move them along humanely. He doesn't want to evict them from the area, but wants to see if someone/something can manage the flow. It would be awesome if Mission Waco could help. Do you have a contact there? If so, I'd be happy to DM you the info on the biz and his interest in finding a good solution.

I do not have a contact there, sorry.

RightRevBear said:

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As a former employee, I suggest contacting their executive director, John Calaway. He will need to call the office at (254) 753-4900 explain that he is a local businessman that would like to talk to John. They will get you in contact with him as quickly as they can.

I would encourage him to frame the conversation that he is a local businessman that wants to help the homeless individuals that are around his business in an ethical way that helps them and also helps his business. Mission Waco usually desires to work with local businesses. This creates relationships that can lead to partnerships for jobs for people that are needing them, community engagement, and potential funding sources.

When I was there we had good relationships with numerous local businesses. Their top goal is to empower people to live with dignity, and that helping people get jobs and the support that they need is essential to this effort. A good relationship with local businesses is necessary to carry out this task.

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I appreciate all of this information and will pass it on to him.

ABC BEAR said:

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Volunteering at a Phoenix homeless shelter opened my eyes to a truer story of who/what the homeless are. The facility was a re-purposed warehouse that had several cots on the floor, a shower area and a dining area. Most of the clients would come in after work, shower, eat and go to bed. Several carried tool belts and other necessities of their trade.

Most of the working homeless were there because of a failed marriage or foreclosure and had nowhere else to go. For the most part these guys understood they were starting the climb again from the bottom rung. Most seemed to take it in their stride and most were saving up for the day when they could afford their own place.

One trait they all had in common was gratitude. There were a lot of sincere thank you and bless you greetings in that place.

My sister, (the bleeding heart liberal) had a much different experience with street people during her 20+ years working at the VA psych services and a women's protective services house after retirement.

At the VA she monitored several homeless vets who were diagnosed with PTSD and who also had fathered several children with multiple women. The $3600/month they received from the government could not be garnished to pay for child support, by law. These vets had to sit for a review of their mental health status at the VA every 3-4 months They were encouraged to find full-tome work and weave themselves back into society.

Those in the bunch who were the true grifters would only work day jobs for cash or some sort of helping-hand program where the employer could waive all withholding for a certain period of time. For the most part they did great work, she say's. Once the timeline ran out on the program and the vets were offered full-time work, they bolted, showed up drunk if at all and generally tanked any effort to bring them back into the mainstream.

For sure there are many vets who have chosen to be responsible with their lives, despite their dire circumstances. To those men/women I/we truly respect and honor.

The safe-house for women where my sister worked was truly bizarre. Several of the women taken in to the shelter had been the 'property' of gang leaders or drug lords. The bars on the windows and the security doors were in place to keep gangsters out as much as it was to keep their girlfriends in.

Much of the clientele were not happy in their surroundings and missed their hoochie-coo days on the dark side. You see, the beatings and mutilations are the rake for continuing to be members of the club. God help them.

Despite her experiences, my sis continues to think that government programs and taxpayer dollars are the answer to the problem...and better people, of course. Chortle, Chortle. God bless her.

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When we lived in Scottsdale, we would volunteer at a/the homeless shelter in Phoenix. I agree that so many folks were trying to get that first traction/footing on way back up.

What shocked (maybe not the right word) me was the impact on their small kids. Man, the kids were so negatively impacted by the stress.

An increase probably means people are giving them cash. You never ever give cash to homeless. You give them gift cards for food. For the majority cash will be spent to feed their addictions. I know several on the street that battle drug addiction.

Waco is the 501 C3 capital of the United States. There's so many organizations that help with the down and out it's unbelievable. Mission Waco is one of many

My best downtown Waco homeless story....

We have a condo downtown and sometimes we take our dog with us. Our neighbors dog will go in the dirt patch closest to the condo door. My prima donna dog wants grass. He will literally look up you with a look that says "I think you know I am not going in that dirt so what else do you have for me"

One day a couple years a go I walked our dog down to the grass patch a block away. As the dog is sniffing trying to find the perfect spot to pee this homeless guy is walking across the street and sees me and starts a straight line right for me. I am checking my surroundings to see if anybody else is around to see what I am going to do if this interaction goes south.

The guy walks up to me and his opening line was ...no embellishment. "Well, I've got Aids". I responded with well that's not ideal. He went on to tell me it was his fault because he had been sharing needles but now he had a family and he just wanted to get them some food. He said he didn't want money but just wanted to know if I knew of any resources. I don't remember what I told him but I did tell him I had no money because I was just out walking the dog.

He ended up leaving after a short interaction but because of this interaction a couple years ago I don't like taking our dog with us when we go.

It could be maybe he did have a family and he really was trying to take care of them but the cynic in me assumed he was actually homeless looking for a handout.

My daughter who is 22 and had just graduated from Baylor the day before in May, was viciously attacked by a homeless woman at 11:00 am on a Saturday morning downtown in front of Cafe Cappucino. The homeless woman silently came up behind my daughter, grabbed her by the hair, and threw her down to the sidewalk where she then began hitting and kicking my daughter. My niece, who was walking with my daughter, jumped in and pushed the crazy woman off of my daughter and they ran into Cafe Cappucino for safety.

My daughter had a slight concussion and was bruised on her back and ribs. Needless to say she is spooked about going downtown now and she cannot be anywhere near a homeless person.

tcbear said:

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My daughter who is 22 and had just graduated from Baylor the day before in May, was viciously attacked by a homeless woman at 11:00 am on a Saturday morning downtown in front of Cafe Cappucino. The homeless woman silently came up behind my daughter, grabbed her by the hair, and threw her down to the sidewalk where she then began hitting and kicking my daughter. My niece, who was walking with my daughter, jumped in and pushed the crazy woman off of my daughter and they ran into Cafe Cappucino for safety.

My daughter had a slight concussion and was bruised on her back and ribs. Needless to say she is spooked about going downtown now and she cannot be anywhere near a homeless person.

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Incredibly sorry to hear this. Did they manage to catch and charge your daughter's attacker?

tcbear said:

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My daughter who is 22 and had just graduated from Baylor the day before in May, was viciously attacked by a homeless woman at 11:00 am on a Saturday morning downtown in front of Cafe Cappucino. The homeless woman silently came up behind my daughter, grabbed her by the hair, and threw her down to the sidewalk where she then began hitting and kicking my daughter. My niece, who was walking with my daughter, jumped in and pushed the crazy woman off of my daughter and they ran into Cafe Cappucino for safety.

My daughter had a slight concussion and was bruised on her back and ribs. Needless to say she is spooked about going downtown now and she cannot be anywhere near a homeless person.

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Man, that's awful. So sorry to hear that.

We definitely do have a homeless problem that needs strong intervention. It seems as though Waco ramps up enforcement for a time, gets it somewhat under control, and then reverts back to disinterest just a quickly. It requires a strong hand as heartless as that may sound. I like the new Waco police chief, as I've heard her speak. She seems very kind. Given the way her bio brags of her DEI strengths, I have doubts as to whether or not she has the stomach to do what needs to be done. But, it's a fact that it needs to be cracked down upon without reluctance or delay. As has been pointed out, we're getting a reputation and that's not something we need, as a city, or deserve as citizens and taxpayers.

Ashley Hodge said:

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as an update, the problem seems to be getting worse. It's definitely got the attention of city leaders. It has a negative effect on tourism and creates a host of issues (like homeless sleeping in parking garages, urinating and defecating in there as well). Lots of loitering around the Hotel Indigo which has to be affecting their business. The Salvation Army facility is going to be moved to 1324 LaSalle Ave but I think they only have capacity to house 100 people on an emergency basis. And from the people I've talked to, it is more likely that this won't encourage many of the homeless hanging out around Baylor or the Suspension bridge to re-locate because panhandling is more lucrative around Baylor students.

One anecdote, I was talking to some policemen and firefighters in Tarrant County and was told that they will give homeless bus fares and send them to Waco saying "they have a lot of services for you there". One of the side effects of Christian compassion- ha.

Houston seems to be getting some recognition for their solution to homelessness. But maybe they are just shipping their homeless out like Tarrant County is trying to do.

The Way Home Houston

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As we've seen with San Francisco. No city can take in outside homeless. It will overwhelm all of the infrastructure and nobody will want to be there anymore except the homeless.