Kelly Young – President & CEO
“Being a woman in leadership adds to the many different perspectives regarding how to lead in our world. Work is better with more of these different points of view and shared language that includes unique voices.”
Celebrating Women's History Month!
Fryda Ochoa • March 19, 2024
This Women’s History Month we are spotlighting our executive team - made up entirely of women!
March is the time to champion and uplift the power of women today while reflecting on their contributions throughout history. This is why we want to highlight our executive team made up of incredible female leaders whose passion drives their work and inspires others.
We asked them for their perspectives on what it means to be a woman in leadership.
Kathy Murray - Chief Finacial and Administrative Officer
“I believe good leadership is elevating every person in an organization to their highest and best use. Women leaders have a unique opportunity to do this by bringing ‘C’ skills that weren’t always valued in traditional leadership roles, such as collaboration, curiosity & creativity. ”
Ana Rausch - Vice President of Program Operations
“Being a woman in leadership holds a strong significance, a lot of which has been shaped by my personal experiences. For me it embodies empowerment, resilience, and the opportunity to challenge traditional norms and biases. My mother is college-educated and had a great job in her country. When my father died and we moved to the U.S., she was a single parent who couldn’t rely on that education to make a living in this country. As women, we must be our strongest champions, understanding that our individual strengths & capabilities are what make meaningful impact. It doesn’t matter what space you occupy in society. I like to set a strong example for my daughter and other women in my family, to show that our voices matter, our actions can inspire others, we can be whatever we want to be, we can represent others, and serve as inspiration for those who also want to be in leadership roles. I also want to challenge stereotypes and create an environment where all individuals, regardless of gender, feel valued, respected, and supported in reached their full potential.”
Jessica Preheim - Vice President of Strategic Planning
“Being a woman in leadership means I can bring new ways of thinking and ideas to our work. I can identify and uplift our future leaders in this space by embracing diversity and creativity. Seeing people grow and intentionally choose to work on one of the most challenging social problems while knowing that, while they might never be millionaires, they are changing people's lives for the better is the reason I do this.”
Join us by taking this opportunity to learn, express gratitude and uplift the voices of the women in your life.
Houston, Texas (February 24, 2026) – This week, the nonprofit Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County (CFTH) is leading the annual Point-in-Time Homeless Count & Survey (“PIT Count”) to determine the number of people experiencing homelessness across Houston and throughout Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties. “We may see a slight uptick in the number this year, but we have a plan,” said Kelly Young, President & CEO of CFTH. “With the support of the City of Houston, Harris County, and private funders, we have been piloting new interventions to shorten the length of time people in our region experience homelessness. With adequate funding, we look forward to expanding those interventions to help people regain lives of self-determination.” CFTH coordinates the Houston region’s public-private homeless response system, The Way Home . Through this collaboration, The Way Home partners have successfully housed over 36,000 people since 2012. CFTH will release the results of Houston’s 2026 PIT Count in the summer, following independent verification by an epidemiologist. These findings will provide insight into how factors such as increases in the cost of living and the end of federal pandemic relief funding have impacted homelessness in our region. More information about the 2026 Point-in-Time Homeless Count & Survey The PIT Count offers a snapshot of how many people are experiencing homelessness in our region on a single night. This year, the “night of record” is Monday, Feb. 23. CFTH determines the number of people staying in shelters on that night by pulling records electronically from the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) . The unsheltered count will be conducted on the following days, from Tuesday, Feb. 24 to Thursday, Feb. 26. More than 400 volunteers and staff of local nonprofit service provider partners will canvass the three-county region to survey people living unsheltered, using an app on their mobile devices. Results from the 2026 PIT Count will help gauge the progress of The Way Home’s ongoing collaborative efforts. It will also help CFTH and partner homeless outreach teams understand geographic shifts and target their outreach throughout the year. The PIT Count illuminates specific programmatic gaps and provides additional information needed to allocate resources most efficiently. The PIT Count is a requirement of the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) for the annual Continuum of Care (CoC) funding process. HUD furnishes the majority of funding for programs that provide housing and supportive services to people experiencing homelessness in the region. In 2024, HUD granted more than $71 million to the Houston area.
As lead agency to The Way Home Continuum of Care (CoC), CFTH is working with local governmental entities to advocate on behalf of people experiencing homelessness to ensure their needs are being considered as winter weather affects our region. We will make frequent updates as we receive information. Please check back often for the latest information. Last updated 02/01/2026 at 12:00 p.m.
While our system has helped thousands of people move from homelessness to housing, this year’s results highlight the need to broaden our approach.
