Richard Troxell

Richard has been striving to end homelessness since he first saw it as a mortgage foreclosure preventionist in Philadelphia in the 1980s. Today, he is the Director of Legal Aid for the Homeless where he works with the disabled homeless citizens of Austin. He is President of House the Homeless, Inc. Since 1989. Having designed a homeless service delivery, he secured a $100,000 grant from former Texas Governor George Bush for Project Fresh Start. This is now the basis of the Caritas Re-Entry program. He created Jobs Plus which is now been taken over by Front Steps and provides the economic basis for homeless people transitioning out of homelessness. He created the Mobile Mini Police Station designed as an emergency impact mobile police station created to quickly establish a “beach-head” in areas of the city where violence has occurred. He created “the Philadelphia Stabilization Plan designed to first stabilize abandoned housing stock in Philadelphia and created a mechanism for banks to bring them back into the market. Currently, he sits on the Board of the National Coalition for the Homeless. His work is culminating in his drive to “fix the Federal Minimum Wage” as the National Chairman of the Universal Living Wage Campaign. He has also devised a national formula to Fix the National supplemental Security (SSI) program. Richard is also the TX Civil Rights Coordinator for the National Coalition for the Homeless. As a social engineer and with his B.A. In sociology from St. Edward’s University. Richard has created scores of programs to address dozens of social problems. He has written the Homeless Protected Class Resolution. Recently, he has devised and pressed for legislation to be introduced in the Texas Legislature to prevent Hate Crimes against people experiencing homelessness. He authored two books, Looking Up at the Bottom Line and Livable Incomes: Real Solutions that Stimulate the Economy.On May 18th, 2020 his statue, The Home Coming was unveiled in Austin, Texas. The statue is his concept which he sculpted. Then he was approached by Sculptor Timothy P. Schmalz said to be the Michelangelo of our times. Together, Richard guided Timothy's hands for 4 1/2 years over the phone as they sculpted it together. Richard has now raised the funds and created a second Home Coming statue and is orchestrating it's location in Washington DC. The Unveiling is planned the fall of 2021. As of August 2020, he began writing another book: Short Stories in a Long Journey.