BEES?! Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 (edited) Two recent articles on initiatives in the area. Second phase of CCHA to begin and Houston City Council approves plans for homelessness service center in Fifth Ward over pushback from some community members It sounds like Houston’s been doing more aggressive disbandment of camps. Good on the city, is how I feel. It is absolutely inhumane to let unwell, down-on-their-luck, or addicted people languish on the streets in hazardous conditions. And in the summertime it is downright dangerous. I get peeved when I see well-meaning people on places like the Houston subreddit get bent out of shape when they clear out encampments. I get that the optics are bad. But I’d rather a bad photo op then people getting murdered, contracting and spreading completely preventable diseases, raped, robbed, and left to die instead of being given a chance to get their life back on track. Some people are always gonna refuse help- that’s certain and an unfortunate inevitability. (And I’m willing to bet a lot of those people are very addicted to drugs, or profoundly mentally unwell) But you don’t deal with that by just throwing up your hands and going “WELP. 🤷♀️ Guess we’ll just let them camp on the streets and die, no biggie. That’s the kind thing to do.” I am really curious to see the long term outcome for these people who are given housing- it sounds promising since the program was implemented a decade ago. I think the annual count of the homeless folks is fixing to happen, if it hasn’t already. COVID definitely caused some setbacks for the effort to help homeless people off the streets, but at least the city is trying to remedy it and push forward. Edited January 28, 2022 by BEES?! 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEES?! Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 (If my double post is against the rules, mods please let me know and I’ll fix it!) I thought I’d bump the thread ‘cause the 2022 PIT count is up- the whole thing is here, and they have a 2-page executive summary here. If I’m understanding it right, they used a different methodology for the 2021 count due to COVID, and I guess the numbers might be lower than they should be. The 2020 count put the homeless population at 3974, in 2021 it was 3047, and this year it was 3223. It’s a dramatic improvement since 2011, when the count was 8471. Houston has done a commendable job trying to help these folks get off the street and into housing. It seems like even with COVID, we’ve been really on top of things helping people off the street. The CCHA money seems to have been a big help. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted June 14, 2022 Share Posted June 14, 2022 In today's New York Times: Houston Moved 25,000 People From the Streets Into Homes of Their Own The subtitle is "The nation’s fourth-largest city hasn’t solved homelessness, but its remarkable progress can suggest a way forward." 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sapo2367 Posted June 14, 2022 Share Posted June 14, 2022 "The number of people deemed homeless in the Houston region has been cut by 63 percent since 2011, according to the latest numbers from local officials. Even judging by the more modest metrics registered in a 2020 federal report, Houston did more than twice as well as the rest of the country at reducing homelessness over the previous decade." Amazing -- especially considering that 1.5 million more people live in the Houston metro area now vs in 2011. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 "Houston City Council voted Tuesday to approve a $7.1 million contract—paid in ARPA funds—for a third-party contractor that will aid the city in its ongoing push to clear homeless camps and re-home those living on the street." https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Houston-homeless-camp-clearing-population-17274023.php 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobruss Posted June 9, 2023 Share Posted June 9, 2023 I just read an inspirational article about a woman in Portland Oregon, who made a promise to do something about homelessness during a college spring break as a volunteer in a program for homeless families. Here is a link to the article. She kept her word and it's working. https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/09/us/oregon-homeless-families-shelter-housing-cnnheroes/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEES?! Posted August 30, 2023 Share Posted August 30, 2023 There was an article posted in r/Houston about the region’s homeless initiatives: https://www.governing.com/housing/how-houston-cut-its-homeless-population-by-nearly-two-thirds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted November 19, 2023 Share Posted November 19, 2023 Forgot to post these pics from Thursday afternoon. City of Houston, TXDOT and Metro were clearing out the homeless encampment under and around IH 59/69 at Runnels and Elysian. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted November 20, 2023 Share Posted November 20, 2023 "When the Coalition for the Homeless in Houston and Harris County learned its chief executive was ready to retire, its board contacted local nonprofits. Board members wanted feedback on what qualities were important in the next person to take the helm of the organization, which coordinates homelessness strategy across the region. Kelly Young, chief executive of Career and Recovery Resources, remembers pondering the question at work as she sat at her desk answering emails and during her free time as she hit tennis balls in Cleveland Park. Her organization helped those without homes enter the workforce, receive substance abuse treatment and connect with housing. So, she was deeply invested in the Coalition’s continued success and wanted to make the most of her opportunity to influence the board’s decision-making. But she was shocked when she was called in for a follow-up conversation — this time as a job candidate. The Coalition for the Homeless announced on Nov. 2 that Young will take the reins as its new chief executive. The decision comes when the organization is celebrated for its role in Houston’s decreasing homeless count in the past decade when other major cities experienced an increase. When the board asked if she was interested in interviewing for the position, Young said she realized it was what she wanted to do. While she loved her role at Career and Recovery Resources, she would also love to think about the region’s strategy more broadly, and she found the prospect of the challenge exciting. She assumes leadership during a period of change: COVID-related funding, which helped the city, county and partners reduce the homeless count, is drawing to a close. Housing costs, which are correlated with homelessness rates, are rising." https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/housing/article/coalition-for-the-homeless-houston-kelly-young-ceo-18460167.php 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 TXDOT put up a fence to keep the homeless from camping out on their property under IH 69/59 on Runnels St. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 Some of the homeless have moved to this barricaded off area that TXDOT put up to keep people and 18 wheelers from parking at. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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