AUSTIN (KXAN) – After emerging from homelessness several years ago, Antony Jackson made it his mission to help others do the same.
“When I finished school in 2013, I was homeless,” Jackson said. “All of my experience, what I saw in the community – that's really what motivated me to start my creation.”
The creation is We Can Now, a nonprofit dedicated to helping people emerge from homelessness. The organization has been around for a couple of years, already having helped over 50 people find stable housing. On Sunday, it celebrated finding a new home of its own.
City leaders, friends and family attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony at We Can Now’s new office in North Austin.
“This means that we get to expand our territory. This means that we get to offer more resources to the community that we're serving,” Jackson said.
And according to housing advocates in Austin, We Can Now expanding its resources is a boon for Austin’s fight to end homelessness.
“[Jackson] has personal lived experience [and a] shared empathy for those who are experiencing homelessness,” said Bill Wallace, who works for the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, or Echo.
“[We Can Now] is grassroots – they actually do outreach,” Wallace continued. “You can find them in encampments. They build trust amongst the homeless population, and are able to relate to their needs – serve them where they are to make sure that they can get access to housing.”
Council Member José Velásquez, District 3, also attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony Sunday. He agreed that Jackson’s lived-expereince is beneficial in helping more people find permanent housing.
“The one thing that groups like We Can Now bring to the table is trust, foundation and relationships that a lot of organizations – and even some government bodies – don't have,” Velásquez said.
