Extreme Heat and Unsheltered Homelessness
Aubry Vonck • August 23, 2021
Texas summers can be relentless. Triple digit temperatures and high humidity don’t just cause discomfort; heat stroke can be deadly. Under certain circumstances, even sunburn, heat cramps, or heat exhaustion can be debilitating. While most local residents can seek respite with air conditioning and an ample supply of running water, those experiencing unsheltered homelessness may have little protection from the elements.
How do local nonprofits assist people experiencing homelessness during extreme heat?
The best way to help people experiencing unsheltered homelessness to weather extreme heat is to help get them housed. That’s why our local homeless response system’s primary focus is to help people experiencing homelessness secure permanent housing. This work has led to over 24,000 people being permanently housed since 2012. Still, over 3,000 individuals experience homelessness at any given time in our area and approximately half of those individuals are living unsheltered.
Outreach teams, including the Coalition’s outreach team, go into our community during times of extreme heat to assist these individuals living unsheltered. These teams educate individuals experiencing homelessness on safety during extreme heat. They distribute bottled water, handheld fans, cooling towels, sunscreen, and other supplies to people living unsheltered. Outreach team members, many of whom are First-Aid and CPR certified, educate individuals on harm reduction techniques to help protect from heat exhaustion and heat stroke. If outreach team members do recognize signs of heat stroke or other serious medical issues, they will call EMS.
These visits do the crucial job of keeping individuals safe in the wake of extreme heat, but also help build relationships and rapport between clients and outreach team members. These relationships, if maintained over time, often lead to an individual growing trust with our team members and agreeing to start the housing process and connect to long-term services.
Historically, day shelters may have expanded capacity during times of extreme heat. However, expanding capacity in shelters has not been possible since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to adhere to CDC social distancing guidelines.
How does local government assist people experiencing homelessness during extreme heat?
The homeless response system has been purposefully built to help people experiencing homelessness secure permanent housing. In times of extreme weather or natural disaster, we look to our local offices of emergency management to provide shelter for all our community members, and that includes people experiencing unsheltered homelessness. As members of our community, people experiencing homelessness have the same right to access disaster shelters as anyone else.
Below, you can view the City of Houston’s plan for when extreme temperatures hit.
City of Houston:
- The Heat Emergency Plan activates when the heat index, a computation of air temperature and humidity, reaches 108 on two consecutive days.
- The City may activate Cooling Centers to help those residents who may not have adequate air conditioning to stay safe when temperatures are high. The centers, usually housed at libraries, recreation centers, multi-service centers and other facilities that are open to the public, are available during their normal business hours.
- When the City’s Heat Plan is in effect, the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) provides transportation free of charge to designated cooling centers for individuals who need them. Residents who need transportation can call 311 to request service.
- To check if the Heat Emergency Plan has been activated at any given time, visit https://houstonemergency.org/.
We also work with other jurisdictions within our local Continuum of Care including Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties as needed.
How can I assist people experiencing homelessness during extreme heat?
If you are concerned about individuals experiencing homelessness in times of extreme heat:
- Have water, electrolyte powder packets, handheld fans, and/or washcloths available in your car to hand out.
- Donate to the Coalition or other nonprofits who provide outreach to people experiencing homelessness.
- If you expect someone may be experiencing heat stroke or another serious medical issue, please call 911.
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.
