AUSTIN (KXAN) — More than 90 people who previously lived in an encampment in the Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Metro Park have been relocated to city-owned shelters, city officials announced in a Monday news release.

The relocations came as part of the Housing-Focused Encampment Assistance Link (HEAL) Initiative, with 92 people assisted in this specific relocation effort. HEAL assists with homeless encampment closures that “pose the highest public health and safety risks,” according to the release.

“The HEAL Initiative isn’t just about ‘moving’ people, it’s setting them on a clear path to housing, opportunity, and help,” Austin’s Homeless Strategy Officer Dianna Grey said in a statement. “With the recent work at Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Metro Park, the City has exceeded its goal of relocating 200 people from encampments to shelter this year.”

To date, 218 people have entered the HEAL program during the current fiscal year. Since Austin launched the HEAL Initiative in February 2021, the program has assisted a total of 362 individuals in their relocations from high-risk encampments to the city’s Southbridge and Northbridge shelters.

For encampment closures and relocations, the city’s Homeless Strategy Division works alongside the Homeless Outreach Street Team, the Downtown Austin Community Court, Integral Care, We Can Now, Sunrise Navigation Center, Austin Parks and Recreation Department, Austin Resource Recovery and Austin Police.

The city and its partners will continue clean-up efforts over the next few weeks to remove lingering debris or materials from the park, with improvement efforts in the works. These enhancements include a new disc golf course, a planned restoration of the Country Club Creek channel and construction of a new pedestrian bridge spanning the east and west sides of the park, per the release.