Community COVID Housing Program- 5,000 Home

Program Progress:

The Coalition for the Homeless (CFTH) is happy to announce that more than 7,300 people have been housed or diverted from homelessness under phase 2 of the Covid Community Housing Program, surpassing our additional goal of serving 7,000 people!

Jensen Housing Navigation Center:

In previous reports, we’ve shared updates about encampments and CFTH’s role in developing and overseeing the nationally recognized encampment response strategy that ensures those living unsheltered receive housing. Since January 2021, 127 encampments have been decommissioned by CFTH, the City of Houston, Harris County, and dozens of partners of The Way Home. One important component of our success in decommissioning encampments is the Jensen Housing Navigation Center.

In October 2021, CFTH worked with the City of Houston to pilot a temporary navigation center, operating out of a hotel in northwest Houston. Harmony House, a valued direct service partner, was this center's operator. Since the encampment decommissioning work began, we've observed that most individuals living unsheltered are open to accepting permanent housing or accessing the Navigation Center when offered. Recognizing the importance of a navigation center, CFTH began working with the City of Houston as the system project manager on a longer-term solution, the Jensen Housing Navigation Center.

In late January 2023, we opened the Navigation Center’s doors, a transitional emergency housing facility with in-house medical, mental health, and navigation services designed to help rapidly house individuals experiencing homelessness. The primary goal of the Navigation Center is for each person staying to obtain housing by working on a housing plan while being provided necessities such as food and shelter, supportive services, and intensive casework. Now that the center is open, CFTH works to ensure that Harmony House has the resources it needs to serve residents of the center.

Since its opening, 275 people have enrolled at the Navigation Center, and 144 have moved into The Way Home’s permanent housing programs!

Sheri’s Journey to Housing:

Sheri, aged 53, has experienced homelessness intermittently for eight years. With her cats and partner, she recently moved from an encampment to the Navigation Center, taking a significant step towards securing permanent housing. "I learned I'd be able to take my pets with me, and that was it – I knew it was time… I don't feel like I'm being institutionalized, but actually helped!"

No single individual can solve homelessness alone. Thanks to supporters like you, we've met our goal of serving an additional 7,000 people by the end of 2024. CFTH and our 100+ direct service providers of The Way Home remain committed to addressing the complex issue of homelessness in our community, ensuring individuals like Sheri can work towards stable housing.

The Coalition for the Homeless (CFTH) uses its expertise to unite more than 100 partners and maximize public and private resources to move people experiencing homelessness into permanent housing with supportive services. Thanks to your continued support, the CFTH team has continued using system data and providing project management to system-wide programs and projects, leading to more than 30,000 people being housed since 2012!

Building on the momentum generated by CFTH's leadership, The Way Home partners, and supporters like you, our community is well on track to meeting and surpassing the CCHP Phase 2 goal of serving an additional 7,000 people by December 2024, already having served 5,499 unique individuals. CCHP has allowed CFTH to take the lead in developing the encampment response strategy, now recognized as a national best practice. Since its inception, 113 encampments have been decommissioned, resulting in over 600 individuals being housed or on the path to secure housing.

Under CFTH’s guidance, the Jensen Housing Navigation Center was opened in January 2023 as a low barrier “pit stop” for people to stay on their journey out of encampments and back into permanent housing with supportive services. In the period from January to June 2023, 196 individuals have enrolled at the Navigation Center, contributing to the decommissioning of 48 encampments. Notably, 82 of these individuals have successfully transitioned into permanent housing programs. 

For an organization like CFTH, operational support goes far beyond covering typical overhead costs. It empowers the Coalition to be a responsive leader within the homeless response system, enabling us to adapt to emerging needs, foster innovation, and extend our reach to better serve our partners. In fiscal year 2023, CFTH discovered that for every $1 donated to our general operating fund, we were able to secure over $91 in public funding to address homelessness in our community.
 
None of this would be possible without the invaluable contributions of our dedicated partners, the expertise of our diligent staff at the Coalition, and the unwavering support from individuals like you. Thank you for your support of making our community a place where everyone has a safe place to call home!