Watched · Contract ended Sept. 30, 2025
Urban Alchemy's shelter contracts
The city ended Urban Alchemy's contract for the ARCH and a second downtown shelter after staff misrepresented homeless-data-system records. The money has to go somewhere next.
Updated September 3, 2026
Urban Alchemy ran the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless and a second downtown shelter. The city ended both contracts effective September 30, 2025, after finding staff misrepresented records in the city's homeless data system.
What we watch: who picks up the shelter contracts next, at what price, and whether the replacement's performance numbers are published or have to be pulled out of the city.