CFTH leads partners of The Way Home to decommission "Chartres" encampment
Allison Zapata • February 13, 2023
We are proud to have led the work on the ground for the City of Houston and Harris County's encampment decommissioning through housing initiative last week.
We are thrilled that 38 people went to the new Navigation Center, run by our partner Harmony House, Inc., and six others went straight to housing.
See "before" and "after" photos of the site below.
The City and County partnered with us and with the partners of The Way Home to not merely displace encampment residents but to holistically respond by moving them into housing.
We couldn't have done this work without our partners:
- Harmony House operates the newly-opened housing Navigation Center (on Jensen Dr in the Fifth Ward) and handled intake of the encampment residents. (Note: the Navigation Center is a city-owned facility. The CFTH is the leaseholder.)
- Homeless outreach teams from
SEARCH,
Hope Haven, and
Avenue 360 assisted with engaging individuals experiencing homelessness in the area, transportation, and more.
- The Harris Center was onsite to support clients with mental health needs.
- The Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) of the Houston Police Department (HPD) issued notices that the encampment would be closing. They were also onsite to keep everyone safe and to help with traffic control.
- The Houston Downtown Management District (DMD) handled waste removal.
- METRO
provided transportation for those who moved from the encampment site to the housing Navigation Center.
- Case managers from
Veterans Affairs supported Veterans living at the encampment.
While our system has helped thousands of people move from homelessness to housing, this year’s results highlight the need to broaden our approach.
This event kicked off a new season of CFTH Presents, bringing the community together for a discussion on the intersection of homelessness, recovery, and housing .
What We Stopped, What We Started, and What Comes Next
