Austin Signal

There are about 43,000 people experiencing homelessness in Texas, and more than 3,000 of them are Austinites. We’ll take a look at the programs and services helping people get back on their feet here in the city. https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/esperanza-community-austin-ged-classes-adult-education-texas/

Most people have gone down a one-way street before – and downtown Austin is full of them. But it wasn’t always that way, and soon, we could be heading back to our old ways of two-way streets if a city commission recommendation moves forward. https://austincurrent.org/2026/01/26/austin-roads-traffic-downtown/

A local nonprofit supporting the Austin music industry has created a new fund. We’ll hear about why it was launched and what it means for venue staff working in the music scene. https://www.kut.org/health/2026-01-05/sims-foundation-austin-tx-dick-chalmers-music-venue-program-mental-health-fund

Plus, new Austin music that you might’ve missed in the first month of 2026. https://kutx.org/

The full transcript of this episode of Austin Signal is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.

Miles Bloxson [00:00:08] There are about 43,000 people experiencing homelessness in Texas, and more than 3,000 of them are Austinites. Find out about the programs and services helping people get back on their feet here in the city. We’ve got that story. And we’ve all gone down a one-way street before, and downtown Austin is full of them. But it wasn’t always that way, and soon we could be headed back to our old ways of two-way streets if a City Commission recommendation moves forward.

KUT Announcer: Laurie Gallardo [00:00:35] The Austin Signal is a production of KUT News, hosted by KUT. By Miles Bloxen.

Miles Bloxson [00:00:41] A local non-profit supporting the Austin music industry has created a new fund. Come hear why it was launched and what it means for venue staff working in the music scene. Plus new Austin music that you might have missed in the first month of 2026. All of that’s coming up on Austin Signal. Stay with us. Hey Austin, it’s Friday, January 30th. I’m Miles Bloxson. This is Austin Signal. There are about 43,000 people experiencing homelessness here in Texas. About 3,200 of those folks are in Austin, sleeping in cars and shelters or on the street on any given night. There are a myriad of programs and services to help homeless people get back on their feet. The Texas Standard, Sarah Asch, visited an Austin Transitional Housing that offers adult education classes.

Carlos Contreras [00:01:39] Let’s talk about what we know about DNA so far, right? Remember, DNA is…

Collin Melton [00:01:45] Generous.

Carlos Contreras [00:01:46] Right? Half the genetic coding comes from…

Sarah Asch [00:01:49] In a small building off Highway 183 by the Austin Airport, people impacted by homelessness gather twice a week for GED classes. The classes are hosted at a transitional housing facility called the Esperanza Community. Collin Melton moved in about two months ago, but has been attending GED courses for even longer. Melton turns 49 this year and says, it’s interesting to be back in a classroom after a few decades.

Collin Melton [00:02:14] I’m doing better at it than I thought I would, so it’s actually nice. It kind of makes me realize I should have done it a long time ago. I didn’t have to be scared of it, you know?

Sarah Asch [00:02:21] Melton has also taken some workforce training classes, but his main goal is to finish the four exams that make up the GED, so he is qualified for better paying jobs.

Collin Melton [00:02:30] Basically, I won’t have doors closed, is the whole point. I won’t have to be worried about, you didn’t get a piece of paper 20 years ago, so now you can’t plan your future.

Sarah Asch [00:02:40] This housing facility is run by the Other Ones Foundation and currently has about 100 residents. Vocational Services Coordinator Alex Gideon says, the goal is to connect people with long-term stable housing and gainful employment. GED classes are just one tool to achieve that, but Gideons says it’s an important one.

Alex Gideon [00:02:59] From, you know, my last role I served as an employment specialist and I can’t tell you how many times I helped someone apply to a job and we’d get hit with that roadblock where you need your GED or high school equivalent to fill out this application and even apply to the job.

Sarah Asch [00:03:16] Staff at the Literacy Coalition of Central Texas started offering these classes on site last spring. And while none of the students have completed the GED yet, a few of the 25 enrolled right now are getting close. Literacy coalition CEO Lisa Stewart says one reason this program works is because it brings educational services to people who are in a position to make use of them.

Lisa Stewart [00:03:38] If a person experiencing homelessness has a stable housing spot, they have a great deal higher success rate to complete their GED.

Sarah Asch [00:03:47] Statistics bear this out. While there is not a lot of data about homeless adults working on the GED, studies show that homeless youth in the K through 12 school system struggle to graduate without stable housing. Not only that, but anyone who drops out of school is more likely to be homeless in the future.

Carlos Contreras [00:04:04] So, A, DNA analysis takes less time than observation? No. No. DNA take more time than that. It’s a lot, you’re coming through a lot of information in DNA.

Sarah Asch [00:04:16] Carlos Contreras, the GED teacher on site, says his goal is to break this cycle and help people view themselves as lifelong learners.

Carlos Contreras [00:04:23] One of the big challenges with adults is really teaching them that it’s okay to make mistakes and it’s ok to trip and fall.

Sarah Asch [00:04:30] Contreras also emphasizes to his students that the skills you learn in a GED class also help you beyond your workforce goals.

Carlos Contreras [00:04:37] Just giving you those skills in everyday life to kind of navigate those harder things like signing a contract, being able to read, you know, what paper is in front of you before you make an agreement and those things like that.

Sarah Asch [00:04:49] Contreras brings his own experience into the classroom to help students overcome obstacles. His mom did her GED when he was a kid, and he remembers how hard it was for her to balance studying and life. And while attendance can be a challenge, especially for students who don’t live on site or have jobs, Contrera says his classes have found a way to make it work.

Carlos Contreras [00:05:09] The way we’ve kind of structured things is we build a learning community. And so everyone sees the value in it. Once they’re in and they get acclimated, everyone kind of really tries to help each other out.

Sarah Asch [00:05:23] Alex Gideon says the confidence Esperanza residents gain when they make progress in the classroom is a big part of what makes this program valuable.

Alex Gideon [00:05:31] It’s just getting back into the learning environment and building confidence for people that I can do this, I can be successful, and this is gonna help me in the next step of whatever my learning journey, whatever my career looks like for me.

Sarah Asch [00:05:49] Resident Colin Melton says he’s noticed that confidence in his own life.

Collin Melton [00:05:53] I think just realizing that I’m actually pretty good at it, you know, or better than I thought it would be at least, it kind of helps to get your confidence up. You know, there’s things you can do, and if you can this, then you can probably do other things that you didn’t think you were going to be able to do.

Sarah Asch [00:06:06] Once he finishes his GED, Melton plans to enroll in Austin Community College, which offers free classes to students who earn their high school equivalency in Texas. I’m Sarah Asch for the Texas Standard.

Miles Bloxson [00:06:22] If you’re driving around downtown Austin right now, I know you’re probably on a one-way street, but did you know those streets weren’t always one way? And now they might go back to two-way. That is if a one city commission recommendation goes through. For more on that and the story behind these one-ways streets, we’re speaking with Andrea Ball. Development and growth reporter for The Austin Current. Andrea, great to have you here today. Thank you. Yeah, so first of all, I grew up here, right? And I remember driving on these one-way streets downtown and even going the wrong way, like once or twice, maybe more. We don’t have to discuss that right now, which was really terrifying, but you’re telling me they have not always been one way.

Andrea Ball [00:07:01] They have not. So our streets here were two ways. And then there started to become this trend in the 1950s when downtowns were very vibrant and we became more car-centric. And so across the country, cities started making things one way because they were thinking about cars and they were think about flow. They were like, oh man, if you have to stop for a left turn with oncoming traffic, it’s gonna be a pain. Let’s get people flowing more, better more. Uh, in the seventies, generally that’s when Austin was like, yeah, we should do that too. It’s a, it’s a normal thing. But, uh, as we started getting into the late eighties, early nineties, people started to realize across the country that maybe this wasn’t the best option for them, um, but it’s never an easy process to make people change, well, anything in life, but also.

Miles Bloxson [00:07:53] Of course, so tell us about this Austin downtown commission and their recommendation that we convert the one ways into two ways.

Andrea Ball [00:08:01] So the Commission’s an advisory board. No one has to do anything they say. I mean, but it’s they are there to make, you know, studied recommendations on what they think would be best for a pleasant and safe environment downtown. And so essentially this commission studied the issue, heard from Safe Streets Austin, which is a pedestrian sort of friendly advocacy group. And what research shows is that you will have fewer accidents in certain places, in certain studies. And they will show that you get fewer accidents because people are paying more attention and they’re not driving as fast. Because yeah, like, you know, one ways can become raceways where you’re like, no one’s coming and no one is making a left. I can go as fast as I want. Anytime you go downtown, whether you’re on a two way or a one way. It’s basically it’s faces of death. You just don’t know what danger is lurking. What is the commission saying about all of this? They really just feel like it’s safer and it’s a more pleasant experience. So they always want to talk about making downtown a destination where you walk and you shop and you vibe and have epiphanies. And so it’s really hard to be comfortable if you’re sitting outside. And traffic starts roaring past you. And it’s like, bah! And everybody has to stop talking for a minute and then it’s silent and it’s bah again. Right. And so that’s not fun. Also, they think that two-way streets, you know, you gotta sit at a light or whatever and you have a chance to kind of look around and be like, I didn’t know that store existed. Take it off.

Miles Bloxson [00:09:43] In right yeah yeah do we really hate one way streets that much because you know how I feel already what stories are you hearing about this

Andrea Ball [00:09:50] Today, my editor said, tell them that I had two people going up one way streets this morning. Oh, wow. Yeah, it’s difficult. If you don’t know where you’re going downtown, you are going to at some point make a mistake. And I’ve done it before. But there is something also to be said for the other side of the city. People who may think this is that, you know, over recent years, we’ve added more public transit and cycling lanes. And so if you turn these into two-way streets, you’re losing lanes. And so are we gonna still have like a big bus lane or a place for delivery trucks to go? Have other cities done this before or is this new? No, it’s not new. It’s been happening all over the country. I think Kentucky was a study that I read.

Miles Bloxson [00:10:40] Is this gonna be something that’s easy for Austin to do, converting all these one-way streets into two-way street? You know, people talk about it.

Andrea Ball [00:10:47] Just paint. It’s really not just paint, it’s, you know, you’re going to have to think about like, well, we want to be a public transit, you no city. So how do I make sure that I am making this road more accessible? There will be probably some infrastructure things that they have to change not a big thing, but like maybe lanes are changing the wrong way. Maybe there’s curves changing the wrong way. So but it’s it’s really more mindset people need to No. Like, okay, that changed. So that would probably take some education. And I mean, we all know how to ride down one-way streets and we know how ride two-way street. So we can figure it out, but if we could figure it without crAsching into people first, that would be most acceptable.

Miles Bloxson [00:11:34] Okay, so we’ll keep an eye on what the city decides. We’ve been speaking with Andrea Ball, development and growth reporter at Austin Current, KUT’s collaborator on Austin Signal, and a partner with KUT newsroom in covering Austin. We’ll have a link to her story at kut.org slAsch signal and in the podcast show notes. Andrea, thank you so much for talking with us today. Truly my pleasure. We’ll be right back. This is Austin Signal, I’m Miles Bloxson. For decades, mental health care services have been available to Austin area musicians through the Sims Foundation, but in a city built around live music, the essential role of venue workers in their need for health care has increasingly come into focus. This year, the Sims foundation is expanding its support by launching a new mental health-care fund, specifically for Austin’s music venue workers. To learn more, we’re joined by Sarah Andrews, who is the Chief Advancement Officer. For the Sims Foundation. Thanks for joining us today, Sarah. Thanks for having me. Yes, I understand that this fun came together in honor of a beloved fixture of the Red River music scene who passed away recently. Can you tell us a little bit about Dick Chalmers?

Sarah Andrews [00:12:46] Sure. Well, Dick was a kind of a legend in the Red River District. He worked there for over 15 years with multiple venues in the area. And he was just, you know, a great human being who everyone knew, who he was a friend to everyone, had a great deal of compassion. And so when he passed away, we just saw this as a real opportunity to honor his legacy in the music venue space and in our music community. Because the reality was he actually helped does co-create this program last year.

Miles Bloxson [00:13:14] He sounds like such a light and a strong advocate for the Austin music community, which is very much so needed to sustain these creatives, right?

Sarah Andrews [00:13:22] Yes, absolutely. He was just a huge kind of community-first mindset that he brought to the Red River District. And I don’t think there’s a person in town that wouldn’t have just wonderful things to say about him. He was a very big-hearted person. I love that.

Miles Bloxson [00:13:41] Before this fund was created venue workers were technically eligible for mental health care services through sims, but many didn’t even realize

Sarah Andrews [00:13:49] laws that they were. Correct. So, Sims, we provide mental health services to the entire music ecosystem. So musicians, sound engineers, venue staff, anyone that is part of our live music culture in Austin is eligible for our services. But we have found over the years that a lot of folks who maybe are more on the industry side of the work just weren’t aware of the services that we had to provide. And actually, Dick kind of helped us. Discover this, right? We worked with him on an event last year, and he was just saying, hey, like so many folks that I work with really need SIMS, but they don’t know about it. And so as we began to explore ways to increase awareness about the services that we have available, we knew we would also need to build sustainability so that we could provide the services when the demand rises. And so that’s really kind of how this program was born. Why do you think people didn’t know? I think that there are a lot of music-centered nonprofits in Austin that are really focused on musicians and the performers. Industry professionals are not as aware or as educated about some of those services as musicians are, we’ve found. And what are the

Miles Bloxson [00:14:59] main priorities of this fund and how our venue workers themselves involved in shaping and informing these new initiatives.

Sarah Andrews [00:15:08] So one of the things that we see a lot with venue workers is that they might be uninsured or underinsured. Venues operate on very thin margins. A lot of them do. And so they can’t provide benefits to their staff. And so when folks come to us in need of mental health care, we will connect them to licensed providers, help them find the care that they need, and then we also help them to offset the cost of that care. Um, so. That’s sometimes paying for those services if they can’t afford it. And so we see this as a population of the music community that is somewhat underserved in the sense of having the benefits needed to fully access the care that they need.

Miles Bloxson [00:15:50] Okay. I co-host a podcast called pause play and I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with, you know, a lot of people that work in venues, venue staff who’ve shared experiences of burnout and mental strain of affordability and instability. How do you hope that a fund like the Dick Chalmers fund will help like address these realities for people?

Sarah Andrews [00:16:09] Well, I think that’s what you just said. A lot of folks working in venues are not earning a lot of money. They don’t have access to benefits. So they are struggling with a lot of just day-to-day stressors in life that can impact their mental health. And so what we want to do with this program is to really help them address those mental health needs and remove the financial barrier to them accessing those services. That’s amazing. And what do you want folks to know about the Sims Foundation and this fund in particular? Just that we’re here for the community, we know that it’s a very challenging time in our world. We know that our music community is impacted by a lot of the uncertainties financially with work, the way the music industry is changing. And so we are here to help. And if you are in the music ecosystem and you need mental health services, you can always come to us and we will help connect you to licensed providers who can provide that care. And then if you are part of the Austin community and you love our music scene, supporting The Sims Foundation just helps us to keep this part of our culture alive.

Miles Bloxson [00:17:11] We’ve been speaking with Sarah Andrews, Chief Advancement Officer for Sims Foundation. You can find more about the fun and reporting from Chad Switecki at kut.org slAsch artbeat. And we’ll include a link in the podcast show notes as well. Thank you, Sarah. Thank you for having me. Music is at the heart of Austin, known as the live music capital of the world. The city continues to be a home for artists shaping what we hear next. There’s always incredible new music emerging from talented artists right here at home. So it only feels right to spotlight some new Austin music you need to know. And to help us do that today, we have Maile Carballo from our sister station KUTX. She’s here to keep us plugged in to what’s happening across the local music scene. Hey Miles, thanks for having me. Of course, it’s great to have you. Now, there is so much music out there that it’s really hard for me to keep up. So Maile, can you share like your top three local artists or tracks that are, like you’re currently playing right now.

Maile Carballo [00:18:15] Absolutely. Yeah. So working at KUTX, we get a lot of music across our desks, of course. But for me, a couple of my top three songs, it has to start with Grace Sorenson’s shirt.

Miles Bloxson [00:18:39] Oh, that’s one of my favorites.

Maile Carballo [00:18:41] Yeah, she is just a star-studded performer in all regards. For this single specifically, she teamed up with the Brooklyn-based producer, Ellie BAschkow, and it just does not get any better than her voice. And it’s really cool because I’m a young person, she’s the same age as me, and she is just making so many waves in the Austin music scene already.

Miles Bloxson [00:19:03] Yeah, so young, so talented. She reminds me of like a modern day Aaliyah. Oh, totally. And has a voice to match.

Maile Carballo [00:19:10] So yeah, totally and this this song is all about, you know The feelings behind a shirt with your ex that you still have and it’s just so catchy so perfected It feels like something that would already be in the Grammys nominated right now for me I love that grace putting us all in our feels. So what else is on your list? Yeah, absolutely So changing up the scene from R&B. We’re gonna go a little more shoe gaze. I love this band keepsake They’re they’re new to my brain and also new to the KUTX Airwaves. I believe they’re an all-female shoegaze band, and one of my favorite songs that they just dropped is called Battle Bots, it’s super cool. And Peter Babb, our digital coordinator at KUTx, said that it keeps the dream of the 90s alive and well in Austin, and I’d have to agree.

Keepsake [00:19:59] I love you You took one shot, I took two

Miles Bloxson [00:20:18] And I love the 90s, so hey, anything 90s I’m here for. Totally. What else is on your mind?

Maile Carballo [00:20:24] Yeah, so to round it out, I love having a good mix of music because that really represents Austin and Austin is of course the live music capital of the world, but we also are at the heart of country, I would say. So two of my favorite Austin musicians, Melissa Carper and Theo Lawrence, have just teamed up to release a couple of songs, but Good Luck To Ya is one of my favorites. It’s just pure hearted, charming. Country awesomeness, in my opinion, and two of the most unique voices I would say too, like in the current kind of Americana swing country revival that’s happening right now.

Melissa Carper [00:21:02] She wrote her number on a piece of paper Slipped it to me, said, call me later

Theo Lawrence [00:21:13] Well you don’t say, that’s a funny thing Just the other day, she gave my phone a ring

Maile Carballo [00:21:22] Have you seen either of them in concert? I don’t know if you’ve been to a big country. I have not, but I love your top three. It’s such a good mix. Yeah, and it’s so Austin. So Austin. And speaking of that, Theo Lawrence is from France, but he’s based here now, and he regularly plays a lot of two-stepping shows and stuff at Sagebrush. And we are.

Miles Bloxson [00:21:40] Wrapping up love Austin music month for people that don’t know what that is can you tell us

Maile Carballo [00:21:46] Absolutely. So Love Austin Music Month is just kind of a celebration that we we hone in on different musicians throughout the month. I always feel like it’s a year-round celebration, especially for us here at KUTX. And I have a couple ways to support outside of just listening this month and listening to KUTx. One thing that I like to do… It’s carry around a little bit of cAsch kind of day to day, just in case, you know, tip your bartenders, tip your sound engineers, maybe. We have a lot of very talented sound engineers on the signal and across the city. It’s so important to support the live music.

Miles Bloxson [00:22:22] Scene here, especially if we want to keep it here, right? Totally, totally. Well, thank you for talking with me today. We’ve been speaking with Maile Carballo of KUTX. You can find more about what’s happening in the Austin music scene at kutx.org and we’ll include a link in the podcast show notes page as well. Thank you, Miles. That’s it for today’s show. I’m Miles Bloxson and special shout out to our technical director Jake Perlman. Thank you so much for tuning in. We’ll be back with you on Monday and have a great weekend.

This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.