Houston City Council has approved more than $65 million toward homeless initiatives and organizations since July 2022. CITY SPENDING
benchmark. With her eye on the eviction filing trends, Bourne said a key component moving forward involves helping people not just find housing but find ways to become independent. To that end, Covenant House is bolstering its support services, including helping people deal with mental health, substance abuse, career services and gaps in education, she said. “We’re that safety net for them so they become stable enough to find the right job ... they feel they can be good at,” she said. “We don’t want it to be a vicious cycle where they become a chronically homeless adult.” City investments The city of Houston has continued to invest in initiatives to reduce home- lessness. A Community Impact analysis of agenda items approved by Houston City Council in fiscal year 2022-23 showed more than $65 million was approved for items that ranged from rapid rehousing initiatives, homeless case management services and affordable housing targeting homeless individuals.
Before his final day in office in Jan- uary 2024, Turner remains focused on continuing partnerships to reduce the number of homeless individuals and create more affordable housing, said Marc Eichenbaum, special assistant to Turner on homeless initiatives, in an emailed statement. “Shelters play an important role as the front door to our housing system, but unlike other jurisdictions, we have moved away from primarily being a shelter-based system to being a hous- ing based response system to break the cycle of homelessness,” he said. The progress made so far shouldn’t be overlooked, Bourne said. Changes have occurred in how homeless individuals are viewed just in the past decade, she said, with people becom- ing more understanding. “Back in the day … it was more of [people] looking down on them,” Bourne said. “When you hear their stories, you can see they are the strong ones. They survived and made it here.”
Housing, construction and land acquisition Fiscal year 2022-23 investments in homeless initiatives Other
Biggest investments
• New Houston Area Women’s Center: $15.9M On Feb. 8, City Council approved an allocation from the Home Investment Partnerships American Rescue Plan Program to go toward acquiring land and constructing a 135-unit development comprising 45 efficiency units and 90 one-bedroom units. • Covenant House expansion: $6.7M On Jan. 25, City Council approved an allocation for the nonprofit Covenant House to go toward a $46.9 million project to expand the campus and allow for a 50% increase in the number of homeless youth that can be sheltered. • Housing opportunities for persons with AIDS: $4.1M • Land trust funding: $1.1M • Acquisition and construction of permanent housing for homeless: $18.7M
$19.1M
$46.5M
The funding allocated by Houston City Council on homelessness-related items:
2021-22 fiscal year: $111.5M
2022-23 fiscal year: $65.6M
Total number of homeless-related agenda items approved by Houston City Council:
2021-22 fiscal year: 25
2022-23 fiscal year: 29
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SOURCE: CITY OF HOUSTON/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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BELLAIRE - MEYERLAND - WEST UNIVERSITY EDITION • JUNE 2023
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