Hurricane Harvey: One Year Anniversary
Communications Admin • August 28, 2018
Through both the Residences on Emancipation and Housing For Harvey programs, The Way Home partners
were able to prevent homelessness for nearly 1,000 people immediately after Hurricane Harvey. Though the efforts of these homeless service providers may have helped prevent a massive influx of people experiencing homelessness, the disruption to the system was certainly devastating.
According to Marilyn Brown, President/CEO for the Coalition, “While the Housing for Harvey program was extremely successful, the post-Harvey efforts were a major disruption to our regular homeless services and planned work for 2018.” Alvin Migues, Director of Emergency Disaster Services for Salvation Army
Texas also added, “Everything went out the window because everyone focused on Harvey, we were working from an emergency operations perspective and not a day-to-day- operations status. We had 5,000 spontaneous volunteers to respond to Harvey. You can imagine the time and effort required to manage those folks.”
In May, the Coalition held a State of Homelessness Breakfast to announce the results from the 2018 Homeless County & Survey. For the first time since 2011 there was an increase in the number of unsheltered homeless individuals on the night of the 2018 Count; the number increased from 1,163 individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness on a single night in 2017, to 1,614 on a single night in 2018. 18 percent of the people experiencing unsheltered homelessness on the night of the Count said that Hurricane Harvey was the cause of their homelessness.
Statewide data
from Texas Homeless Network
shows more detailed information about Harvey survivors including demographic information and other characteristics. All major cities in Texas had increases in their 2018 Homeless Count numbers, though of course Houston was among the communities to experience the effects more acutely.
Now that the one year anniversary is here, we can look back at our response and the incredible collaboration from partners of The Way Home and appreciate the amazing things that we accomplished. 70 percent (234) of the households enrolled in Housing For Harvey have transitioned out of the program and 88 percent of those that have left have either returned to their living situation prior to the storm, are self-paying for their apartment or have enrolled in another subsidized housing program.
Even with the disruptions and increase to the 2018 Homeless Count numbers, The Way Home has still housed more than 14,500 people in permanent housing since 2012 with an 84% success rate, and overall homelessness is still down 51% from where it was in 2011. Further, the Coalition is leading disaster preparedness workgroups that will take input from partner agencies and help ready communications, resources, and action plans for the next disaster – though we all hope that is a long, long time from now!
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.
