Eating Apart Together Initiative

Connecting Austin's homeless community to food and resources during COVID-19.

What difference can a meal make? In Austin, the Eating Apart Together (EAT) Initiative has provided regular access to food to help those experiencing homelessness stay safe and meet their needs during the pandemic response.

With many restaurants and bars closed and fewer drivers and pedestrians around the city, people experiencing homelessness lost access to many of the resources critical to their survival. Outreach staff heard the call for help and partnered with the City of Austin to develop a delivery system of both shelf-stable foods and prepared meals to meet the varied need of the diverse community.

In less than five months the EAT Initiative provided more than 400,000 meals along with thousands of masks, rolls of toilet paper, hygiene supplies, bags of dog food, and fliers about COVID-19. The City of Austin sources and coordinates production of the bags/meals before they are distributed to people experiencing homelessness by partner agencies, nonprofits and churches.

EAT shows what is possible when communities come together to take care of each other. This page shares the stories of the people whose lives have been changed by organizing, delivering, and receiving food through the initiative.