By Renee Cavazos | Development Coordinator
In the two months immediately after Harvey hit, the Coalition and partners of The Way Home were able to successfully prevent homelessness for nearly 1,000 people who had nowhere to go after the storm, BUT it was a major disruption to our already in-place homeless services and a devastating distraction from our planned work in 2018.
On the night of the Homeless Count in January, 18% of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in our community said that Harvey was their homeless trigger – whether it was their first time homeless or not. This accounted for most of our increase in unsheltered homelessness – the first increase since 2011.
Despite the distraction and the increase in unsheltered homelessness, we are proud of what we accomplished through Housing For Harvey. Of the 334 households that moved into apartments, 206 of them have left the program to safe housing. This is a positive outcome and hopefully did what it aimed to, which was to prevent a large incoming wave of newly homeless individuals.
With the continued leadership from the Coalition for the Homeless the Way Home is making strides to bridge back the time and resources lost since the storm.
The Way Home utilizes a “Housing First” approach to solve homelessness by prioritizing the placement of homeless individuals and families into housing as soon as possible, and then providing voluntary supportive services as needed to help them remain housed.
Houston is leading the nation in solving homelessness and is a national model for other communities.
Since 2011, partners of The Way Home have reduced overall homelessness by 51% and unsheltered homelessness by 63%. In 2011, the Homeless Count identified 8,538 homeless individuals on the night of the Count.
The Key to our work is our systematic approach and key partnerships made throughout the our service area. Without the assistance of Global Giving we would be unable to reach and tell our message to people around the world. We thank you all for your assistance, and hope you continue to help “Be The Key” to ending homelessness.
By Renee Cavazos | Development Coordinator
By Renee Cavazos | Development Coordinator
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