Trinity Center Austin

We are participating in this year! 🏠

Starting October 1 and for 10 days, Central Texas will come together to support nonprofits specifically working in housing, shelter, and homelessness.

Every donation of $5 or more unlocks an additional $50 from a $25,000 matching fund, while funds last.

It takes a community to make change, and we’re counting on you to help our community unlock the full match!

The giving link will be available on Thursday, Oct 1st 💙🧡

Last week, some amazing members of Impact Austin visited us during our cooling center hours to provide a meal for our neighbors. They helped sponsor the meal and volunteered their time to plate and serve it! 🫶

🩷These amazing ladies brought so much love and care, not only to preparing and serving the meal, but also to connecting with our neighbors one-on-one. They truly engaged with everyone, asking questions, chatting, and getting to know the people they were serving. It made for such a special afternoon!🩷

is a newer partner of Trinity Center. They recently gifted us one of their annual grants to support our operations, including our cooling center. But the care and commitment of their members to the organizations they support goes beyond financial contributions. Volunteering is another beautiful way of showing love for our mission, and we were so happy to welcome them to Trinity Center.

We also loved seeing their members have the opportunity to connect with one another while serving together. We can’t wait to have them back—and to welcome even more Hula Austin members to volunteer and serve alongside us! THANK YOU🩷

We were one of the fortunate recipients of the 772 Hot Weather First Aid Kits that Streets Medics Austin created to help alleviate the heat and care for the health and well-being of our unhoused community this summer. 🧦🩹🪥🫗

We only heard great things from the neighbors who received these kits, and that’s because they were so thoughtfully designed with the specific needs of people spending time outdoors in high temperatures or for long periods of time. Every item was intentionally selected to support their physical health, mental well-being, preventative care, hygiene, and so much more. 💛

Thank you, , for considering Trinity for these lifesaving kits for the neighbors who visit us and, at the same time, for contributing to our cooling center program efforts. We distributed more than 100 kits! ☀️🙌

And a huge thank you to everyone in your organization who helped build the kits, transport them, and provide the funding to make them possible. We appreciate you!

Tuesday tradition at the Cooling Center: it’s Pizza Day! 🍕❤️

Every Tuesday, the Community Engagement Group from takes charge of the Cooling Center meal, serving pizza, salad, and a sweet treat.

And that’s not all! Volunteers meet before serving to prepare snack bags with sandwiches, other treats and a note, that we use throughout the rest of the week. 🫶🥪🍪These bags are offered to neighbors as they leave at night, so they have something to eat overnight, and also to those who arrive after we have run out of meals, so we can still offer them something to eat.

The majority of the volunteers from this group have been coming every Tuesday since the cooling center started. Over time, they have become familiar faces to our neighbors, making each visit a welcoming experience while serving, connecting, and spending time together.

We are so grateful to all of you for committing, for a second consecutive year, to supporting this project to keep our neighbors safe indoors during the tremendous heat, while also providing comforting meals, nourishing human interaction, and other basic services.

Please know how much we appreciate each and every one of you. Thank you for showing up every week and caring so much! 💖

How have Trinity Center's extended Cooling Center hours made a difference for you? We asked our neighbors, and what they shared reflects something we don't just hear—we witness it every day. 🙌

We see the difference when they walk through our doors, out of breath after enduring the excruciating heat—and the relief on their faces as they step into the air conditioning and pour themselves a cup of ice-cold water. We see it in the change in their demeanor after a refreshing shower, and in the smiles and heartfelt thank-yous they share with the volunteers serving their afternoon meals.

These quotes remind us how grateful we are to have been doing this for almost three months, and we couldn’t do it without the support of our amazing partners. A Glimmer of Hope Austin, for example, was one of the first organizations to give us the green light this year to move forward with the cooling center for the third consecutive year. We are so thankful to them—for putting their resources where they are needed most and for trusting us to take the best care we can of our community. 💛💛

Thank you! 🫶

We were recently featured in the Austin American-Statesman for our work with the cooling center and the tremendous impact it has had on our unhoused community in downtown Austin since June. ❤️

The heat hasn’t let up enough just yet, and our neighbors still need a place to stay cool while accessing basic, essential, and dignifying services. We’ll continue to be here for a couple of weeks, and you can still help support this initiative!

Our biggest needs right now:
🙋‍♀️ Volunteer!
👕 Donate men’s clothing (all items and all sizes)
👚 Donate women’s clothing ( especially shoes and larger sizes items)
📣 Spread the word!

Let’s continue keeping our neighbors inside, safe, healthy, and cool. ❄️

Read the article: https://www.statesman.com/news/article/austin-cooling-center-homeless-summer-heat-22407596.php

More info about the Cooling Center: https://www.trinitycenteraustin.org/post/2026-cooling-center-check-in-here-s-what-s-happened

Or reach out to us directly by DM! We want to connect with you! 🩵

Geneva and her partner, Jose, are two of our regular visitors during cooling center hours. They are currently living in the woods, and during the hottest hours of the day, they come to Trinity looking mainly for safety for themselves and their dogs. They come to cool down, shower, eat, rest/sleep in our day-sleep area, and have access to some of the basic resources they otherwise would not have access to while being outside.

“This heat is hard. I’m tired of sweating. I’m tired of the smell. I haven’t taken a bath in two or three days. I just took a bath, and it feels so good, so good. I didn’t want to get out,” Geneva said, laughing.

Beyond those services, they are also simply able to be here inside: somewhere safe, somewhere cool, with access to bathrooms and water to stay hydrated. They know their dogs are welcome inside with them and can also receive food and supplies. 🐾

“You all are good people. I love coming here. You are doing a good job taking care of us, and I’m thankful. If it wasn’t for you all, we wouldn’t have anywhere to go,” Geneva said.

We’re grateful to be able to stay open in the afternoons for Geneva and the many others who visit us each day for the same reason. ❤️ We’ll continue to be here for our neighbors throughout the next few weeks of intense heat.

If you’d like to read more about her, learn how the cooling center can benefit her and others, and find out how you can continue to support this initiative, you can do so here🔗: https://www.trinitycenteraustin.org/post/this-heat-is-hard-i-m-tired-of-sweating-i-m-tired-of-the-smell-i-haven-t-taken-a-bath-in-two-or

Every Wednesday afternoon, from the beginning of the cooling center, St. David's Men’s Group has committed to collecting funds within their group and their networks to sponsor a hot meal prepared by St. David's Chef, Chef Ray. Their commitment goes even further, with members volunteering their time to come, prepare, plate, and serve the meals!

We are so thankful for this group of people who hold Trinity so close to their hearts. For many of them, coming here every Wednesday has become a special weekly tradition, a time to share with others in the group, see and greet our neighbors, recognize familiar faces, and spread lots of kindness through a delicious plate of food.

And then there’s the food! Chef Ray creates delicious, wholesome, and filling meals, from comforting classics to more exquisite creations—meatloaf and potatoes, pork chops, brisket, pasta, and so much more. And, of course, they never miss a fun dessert!🥘🍰🍝🥗

Thank you for being such a key part of this initiative, for supporting us, and for showing love to our neighbors through food. ❤️