VOCAL Texas

Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from VOCAL Texas, Nonprofit Organization, Austin, TX.

05/22/2026

VOCAL-TX Organizer JJ Ramirez published an op-ed in the this week about being unjustly arrested at City Hall while fighting for real solutions to homelessness.

Read it and share!

05/21/2026

New daily city encampment sweeps have begun to plague our unhoused community in Austin. Our team is out connecting with camps and documenting the harms as our city escalates enforcement against the most vulnerable with no where to go. This is Puma, who wants to share his story and be a voice for his community.

05/14/2026

VOCAL-TX leaders Tony and Jen found a notice from the City zip-tied to a tree warning them their camp would be swept today.

As of yesterday, they had not been offered shelter, services, or support, and had seen no City outreach workers — despite the City claiming those steps happen before a sweep is scheduled.

So last night, Tony and Jen packed up what they could and moved somewhere else.

This is not a plan to solve homelessness. It is a plan to manage the perception of homelessness by pushing people from place to place without housing, shelter, or real support.

05/13/2026

✅ May Membership Meeting

A lot of “Sweep the Billionaires, not the Homeless” energy at today’s meeting.

People are angry about what’s happening in our city — and they’re getting organized. Join us!

05/06/2026

Yesterday, 30+ Austin organizations across movement, service, labor, and faith sectors and 120+ individuals presented our joint letter to the City calling for a pause to a city initiative that would pivot us away from care and services and towards enforcement and punishment.

During Tuesday’s work session, the Homeless Strategy Office presented a plan to expand APD-led encampment sweeps, while at the same time acknowledging the City only 45 open shelter beds.

At a time when Austin faces federal cuts and resource constraints without the housing, shelter, or service capacity needed to support people living outside, moving forward with this plan is unacceptable. This plan will only result in tickets, arrests and harm.

We are calling for a pause to this enforcement plan to ensure delivery of services and care to our community before leading with force.

Call your City Council Member and tell them to pause the plan. Timing is urgent as the change in operations is set to begin May 11th!

See the letter and its supporters in the link in our bio.

05/01/2026

On , we rallied outside Trilogy Software —founded by tech billionaire Joe Liemandt — to launch Austin’s Backers of Hate and call out local billionaires shaping harmful policies, influencing politics, and buying elections. We were one of +4,000 actions happening across the country demanding .

While billionaires get richer and richer, our communities are struggling — and we’re organizing to change that.

Shout out to our friends at Austin Central Labor Council, , , , , Raging Grannies, TARA, , , and everyone who came out today and spread the word!

Stay tuned for our next Backers of Hate actions!

04/23/2026

Today City Council passed Item 37! The “Safe to Call” resolution creates a stakeholder process aimed at reducing Class C warrants, preventing Fourth Amendment violations, and protecting victims and witnesses when calling for help.

VOCAL-TX Leaders shared powerful testimony about the impact of Class C tickets that lead to warrants, arrests and a never ending cycle of poverty. Our unhoused neighbors are not safe to call for help when APD is escalating encampment sweeps and giving out tickets to people who have nowhere to go.

It was an honor to spend the day alongside so many groups fighting to protect our community from state violence.

04/21/2026

Cista lost everything when APD and Austin Resource Recovery crushed her tent, shoes and clothes in a garbage truck while she watched. There were no outreach workers there to connect her to the type of housing and services she needed.

Starting on May 11th the City plans to conduct APD-led sweeps DAILY without outreach workers onsite. But we are calling on city leaders to pause the plan so we can focus on investments in housing, services and care.

Sweeps are inhumane, ineffective and expensive!! Folks have nowhere to go. Sign our petition at the link in our bio and help us pause the APD-led sweeps!

04/13/2026

New reporting by Austin Sanders in the on Austin’s plan to expand encampment sweeps.

More APD-led sweeps means more displacement, more belongings destroyed, more tickets and arrests. But where is the housing, shelter and services that people actually need? Where are people supposed to go?

Link in our bio.

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Austin, TX

Website

http://vocal-tx.org/

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