The Point-In-Time Count surveys the number of individuals experiencing homelessness. This year’s count was held Jan. 26. United Way Denton attributes the major increase in homeless individuals in 2022 to volunteers canvassing “more of the county than any previous count.” THE SIZE OF THE PROBLEM SOURCES: CITY OF PLANO, HOUSING FORWARD NORTH TEXAS, UNITED WAY DENTON COUNTYCOMMUNITY IMPACT *DENTON COUNTY’S 2023 DATA WILL BE RELEASED IN MAY.
700
Collin County
Denton County*
Plano
558
600
516
465
443
448
500
367
400
261
277
248
300
218
216
200
208
194
191
100
176
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
2022
2023
limited options in Plano. The Salvation Army opens a weather shelter during extreme cold or extreme heat, and Dunn said the shelter will have 140-plus people on bad nights. There are also a couple of nonprof- its that will provide shelter to certain groups, such as City House for children and young adults, and Hope’s Door New Beginning Center for victims of domestic violence. But for the general homeless popu- lation, there is no emergency shelter in all of Collin County. “The reality is, and it sucks, we don’t have anything,” Eaden said. “When we’re talking about somebody that is literally homeless, and we’re waiting to get them housed, we have nowhere to put them.” Dunn said the nearest options are emergency shelters in Denton and Dallas. “Both of which are feasible,” he said. “We can make that happen, but it is a fair amount of ground to cover, so it’s not ideal.” Eaden said many people experi- encing homelessness in Plano are not willing to leave their community, but
“We provide nancial assistance in a variety of ways,” said Jay Dunn, Salvation Army of North Texas man- aging director. “Sometimes that’s epi- sodic, maybe because they’re facing eviction, and sometimes it’s part of a longer-term plan because they’ve lost their job.” Tenant-based rental assistance, which looks to house people experi- encing homelessness, will take up the next largest chunk at $310,000, while the rest of the funds will go toward case management and administrative costs. Tenant-based rental assistance includes rapid rehousing, a program that has helped 74 families since 2018, according to Eaden. The program gets homeless families or individuals into housing, and provides nancial assis- tance and other services to prevent further episodes of homelessness. Rapid rehousing takes 30 days, at minimum, according to Eaden. On the streets Whether they are waiting for hous- ing, or not in the program, people experiencing homelessness have
community services manager, pointed out Plano ISD has a bus stop at a motel. “That means we have a lot of resi- dents that are living in hotel/motels,” she said. Where the money goes The majority of the federal ARPA funds will go to funding existing pro- grams that help people in danger of becoming homeless. Around $1.4 million will go to pro- grams to assist Plano residents who make 50% below the area’s median income. Eaden said someone has to have resided in Plano when they became homeless to qualify for pro- grams funded by the city. The program would give around $48,000 for a fam- ily of four, according to Eaden. “HUD will allow us to do 80% [area median income] or below, but the City Council chose to narrow it,” she said. “It’s when you get lower in the incomes that you get people here in Plano just trying to make it, and they need help.” That nancial help could include rent, utility, food or other pressing costs.
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said during the meeting. There are 261 people experiencing homelessness in Plano, according to the city’s 2023 Point-in-Time Count. That’s up by 16.5% from the 2022 count, which reported 224 people experiencing homelessness in Plano. The Point-in-Time Count’s purpose is to survey and count the number of unsheltered homeless people in the city, but it is not comprehensive, according to Grady, who also works with the Collin County Homeless Coalition. The count is only a snapshot of one night in the city, and it does not include someone, such as Hayes, who may be sleeping at a shelter in Dallas or Denton. The count also does not include people living out of a hotel/ motel or couch sur ng. “We know that number is severely undercut,” Grady said. “We have peo- ple that maybe are in transitional hous- ing, but yesterday they were probably homeless.” Shanette Eaden, Plano housing and
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