Homelessness 101: Person-Centered Language – What is it?
Communications Admin • September 17, 2018
Imagine you are driving down the street and you happen to see someone standing on the corner, they may appear to be homeless. What is the first thought in your head? How would you describe them in that exact moment? In most cases, someone would say that is a ‘homeless person.’ Instead of creating the automatic bridge between you and that individual, there is a better way to use person-centered language instead.
What is person-centered language? Person-centered language seeks to focus on the person first, and the disability they may experiencing last. That situation or disability does not define who they are. The way we speak or write about someone greatly influences the images and attitudes we form about them, leaving behind a positive or negative impression for others (Blaska, 1990). So instead of saying a homeless person, you would say that is a person or individual who is experiencing homelessness.
“Our society, in general, likes to put people in boxes because that’s how our brain filters it,” said James Gonzalez, Project Manager at the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston. “And when that happens, you lose sight of who that person really is because you are trying to figure out what category they belong in, instead of understanding who they are.”
A lot of the time, someone may think, “This could never be me, I would never end up in this situation,” and because of this mentality, a barrier is created between you and the person on the street corner. But the reality is homelessness could happen to anyone. Sometimes one paycheck can be the deciding factor in whether there is a roof over your head, or not. The more someone is able to distance themselves from the situation, the less likely they will feel like it could actually be them one day. And the more the situation is avoided, the further away we get from changing anything.
Too frequently, we also get lazy. Sometimes person-centered language cause make sentences longer, more time-consuming to create, and harder to articulate. The easy way out is to use shorthand, or slang. We live in a world where technology has taught us to communicate in the shortest, most simple way possible. But what is adding a few more words to address someone who is experiencing homelessness correctly? These individuals are your fellow Houstonians, they’re your neighbors.
Person-centered language doesn’t just apply to someone experiencing homelessness either. It can apply to someone with a disability too. Instead of saying that is a disabled person, you could instead say that is a person who has a disability. The same applies to someone with obesity. That is not an obese person, it is a person who is affected by obesity. If we allow these characteristics to define an individual, all we are doing is dehumanizing them and further adding to the stigma. And although each of these people may be experiencing something completely different, they all have one thing in common: their disability or current situation does not define who they are.
So the next time you come across someone who may appear different than you, who may be struggling with something you don’t necessarily understand, remind yourself that their current situation is not the entirety of who they are. Take one second to remind yourself that at the end of the day, we are all human beings, and there is more to them than what meets the eye.
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.
