About ECHO

We lead and align a coalition to administer an effective Homelessness Response System, centered in racial equity, informed by the needs and expertise of people experiencing homelessness, and accountable to systemically marginalized communities.

Everyone in our community has housing of their choice that provides a foundation for optimal health, success, and stability.

Historic, structural, and systematic racism in our community has resulted in people of color, especially Black people, being more likely to become homeless in our community and ECHO is therefore committed to centering racial equity in its work with providers, community partners, and community members.

• Leadership – Advocate alongside the people we serve.
• Passion – Serve our community with drive and commitment.
• Racial Equity – Promote policies, programs, and performance monitoring to seek to reduce racial disparities in homelessness.
• Diversity and Collaboration – Seek diverse voices and unique perspectives to best serve our community.
• Continuous Improvement
  • Lived Expertise – Affirm that people are experts in their own circumstances and couple their expertise with data to inform our system.
  • Data Informed Decisions – Promote and value evidence and data to impact solutions.
  • Innovation – Foster and lead innovation in HRS.
• Courage – Have hard conversations, take personal and organizational accountability, and take risks and make changes when needed.

Ending homelessness in a community takes a strategy that involves the entire community. ECHO partners with people who’ve experienced homelessness, service providers, government leaders, property owners, philanthropists, and many more to coordinate the community-wide strategy to end homelessness in Austin and Travis County.

ECHO is the lead agency of Austin/Travis County Continuum of Care (CoC). The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires communities to pick a single agency to apply for federal grant funds through the CoC program. The agency is responsible for collecting and evaluating project applications from partner organizations and submitting a single collaborative grant application on behalf of the community. The CoC Lead Agency is also responsible for conducting the biennial Point in Time (PIT) Count of people experiencing homelessness.

ECHO is guided and informed by the CoC’s governance board, Leadership Council. The Council is an independent group of community members involved in the work to end homelessness.

Austin/Travis County CoC  Leadership Council

The faster someone moves back into a safe, stable place to live, the faster that person can begin to recover from the daily trauma of homelessness. Research shows strategies that prioritize housing paired with individualized supportive services are most effective in providing people the tools they need to remain stably housed long-term.

ECHO doesn’t provide housing directly. Our role is to coordinate and support two key elements of our community’s rehousing system. The first is the Coordinated Entry System (CES). This system uses a centralized assessment process to connect people with potential housing programs. This is a “no wrong door” approach that means no matter which organization someone interacts with, as long as they use this database, they’re automatically connected to every other provider in the system. ECHO’s Coordinated Entry Team manages this system on behalf of the Continuum of Care (CoC), and the data generated from the process informs changes to our Homelessness Response System (see “Data Hub” above).

The second element we support is bringing new units into our system for people with high barriers to ending their homelessness. Most of the time, when someone works with one of our partners to end their homelessness, they move into a market-rate apartment with rental assistance and ongoing case management. ECHO advocates for units for the system by engaging with stakeholders and the community. These housing units have low barriers for entry.

Coordinated Entry  

Everyone has a role to play in ending homelessness. ECHO works alongside people who’ve experienced homelessness, community equity advocates, and folks committed to the cause of housing justice. Our goal is to lift up evidence-based strategies to ensure our community’s rehousing system is equitable, efficient, and able to serve everyone who needs a place to live.

From your local neighborhood association, to City Council, to our state and federal legislatures, the more people who speak up for proven solutions, the more likely decision-makers are to listen. Use your voice to help us end homelessness in our community.

Get Involved

Ed McHorse | Acting Chair
McGinnis Lochridge

Mark S. Hernandez, RN MD FACP | Treasurer
Medical Director, Public Health Alliances, Ascension Medical Group

Shannon Sedwick | Secretary
Esther’s Follies

Cossy Hough, LCSW
UT School of Social Work

Alberta Phillips
Journalist and Community Advocate

Betty Staehr
Community Advocate

Lynn Meredith
Community Advocate

Steven Brown
President, Givens Park Work Group

C. Lane Prickett
Attorney