Walk for the Homeless introduces homeless community to Waco resources to help them

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - The latest data from the point in time counts shows that last year there were 195 homeless people in Waco.

On Sunday morning, at the annual walk for the homeless, Mission Waco introduced a fraction of those people to local resources meant to help them.

Hundreds of walkers, including groups from Baylor University, McLennan Community College and VFW Post 2148, all took to downtown Waco for this year’s event.

At the walk everyone was introduced to resources like Caritas and Compassion Ministries at each stop along the route.

”All of this is our resident housing,” a representative with the Family Abuse Center said. “We can house 14 families at a time.”

Libby Barnhill, groups director with Mission Waco, said some people may have outdated information on these nonprofits or may not even know about them.

”We just want to make sure that there is clarity in the types of resources that Waco has to offer and also a chance for the organizations to present the new projects they’re working on,” Barnhill said.

This walk, with nine total stops at different resource centers, all to help folks like Ricky Hall.

”Right now I’m at the Salvation Army, they provide a five night stay for every 90 days,” Hall said.

Travis Champion, who is also homeless, said it’s through this walk introducing him to these resources that he’s able to get food on the table.

”With me being an insulin dependent diabetic, it keeps me on a stable diet so I can live a healthier life and keeps me out of the hospital,” Champion said.

At Sunday’s event, Mission Waco was also collecting cash donations to purchase brand-new shoes for homeless people. The nonprofit is still accepting donations and you can donate here.

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