Coalition releases 2012 Needs Assessment findings in Houston, Harris County and Fort Bend County
Communications Admin • October 22, 2012
COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS ANNOUNCES RECENT FINDINGS ON HOUSTON AREA NEEDS
On a given night in the greater Houston area more than 8,700 people are homeless
July 31, 2012 (Houston, Texas) – The Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County announced today the findings from its annual Needs Assessment Report and its Point-in-Time count of the homeless in Houston,Harris and Fort Bend Counties. The Point-in-Time (PIT) Enumerations and Needs Assessment is a program conducted by the Coalition, required of all communities that receive federal support from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). According to the 2012 PIT, which provides a snapshot of homelessness on a given night, there are approximately 8,768 homeless persons in our area. This includes 3,824 people living unsheltered, 3,532 living in sheltered facilities, and 1,412 in the Harris County Jail.
THE FACE OF HOMELESSNESS
Homelessness is a complex issue, and effective efforts to prevent and end it require broad community participation. Triggers that lead to homelessness may include job loss, eviction by a family member, bills higher than earnings, domestic abuse, incarceration, mental and/or physical illness, drug and alcohol abuse or changes in family status. In fact, job loss was a leading factor for 35%of the individuals captured in the 2012 Needs Assessment report.
The Coalition’s HMIS (short for Homeless Management Information System) is a computerized data collection tool specifically designed to capture client-level, system-wide information over time on the characteristics and services needs of men, women and children experiencing homelessness. According to recent HMIS findings, 22,781 homeless people in this area accessed services this year. Of these individuals, 28% were living in emergency shelters.
More than 22% of the homeless in Houston are in families with children, of which 28% of the children are under the age of 18. Domestic violence contributes to 30% of homeless families, headed by women with their children.Veterans comprise 22% of Houston’s homeless, even though 70% were eligible for Veterans Affairs benefits. Of this population only 30% were receiving the benefits for which they were eligible.
“In 2011, HUD named Houston as a priority community. This designation recognizes the great need to transform Houston’s existing homeless service system and the tremendous opportunity to make significant advances,” stated Marilyn L. Brown, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County. “The Coalition for the Homeless works with numerous area service providers every day to prevent and end homelessness in our region. Our partners are striving to assist and support homeless individuals who need their services to survive. Through their efforts, we have seen a drop in the homeless population in Houston. We remain committed to ending the cycle of chronic homelessness in our region. We are pleased to be a convener of hard data on homelessness in this region every year. Armed with the right information and collaborative partnerships among citizens, business leaders and government officials, we can continue to make these numbers decrease.”
ENGAGING THE COMMUNITY
As part of its mission to prevent and end homelessness, the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County is hosting a two-day Charrette on August 20-21, with support from the Corporation for Supportive Housing. A Charrette is an intensive planning process that jumpstarts and streamlines how a community develops or updates its Community Action Plan on homelessness. The upcoming Community Charrette on Homelessness, which will encompass Houston, Harris County, and Fort Bend County, is an opportunity for collaboration among diverse stakeholders to solve community problems related to homelessness. The Community Charrette is a direct result of the current Continuum of Care work being led by the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County.
Mayor Annise Parker will give an opening address to Charrette participants on Monday, August 20 at 9:15 a.m. Many specialists in the region will participate as speakers and/or panelists during the two-day working Charrette.
The Charrette sessions will be held at the Harris County Department of Education, located at 6300 Irvington Boulevard in Houston. The public is invited to attend these meetings, which will address the causes and propose solutions to the multiple facets of homelessness in the greater Houston area. For information on how to participate in the Charrette, please contact Gary Grier, Director of Community Engagement, Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County at ggrier@homelesshouston.org or please call (713) 739-7514.
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.
