Ms. Bobbie and the Downtown Housing Surge
Aubry Vonck • February 24, 2021
In January, the Coalition outreach team, with the help of public and private partners, set out to permanently house 32 people living in an encampment in Downtown Houston. Most housing surges like this one require the help of many partners. This one was no exception and even included the help of a rather unusual partner!
One of the key activities when someone moves into permanent housing is transportation to their new home. Once those living in these encampments had packed their belongings, they were provided with Yellow Cab Taxi vouchers in order to travel to their new apartments.
Despite each voucher having a $15 balance, the drivers were unable to process the cards and clients were temporarily unable to travel to their new homes. One driver, however, was determined to resolve the issue.
Ms. Bobbie, a Yellow Cab driver who drives the only pink taxicab in the Houston area, learned that the computer system in their cabs was not updated for drivers to use the vouchers. Bobbie was not concerned about being paid on the spot; however, and proceeded to transport the majority of the 32 people who had been living at the encampment. She went above and beyond to make sure that everyone was comfortable and even stayed with some of the more vulnerable clients to ensure that they were getting connected to the right people at each property.
And more than just transporting people from the encampments to their new homes, Ms. Bobbie was determined to resolve this issue with Yellow Cab and brought her concerns to her manager. But her advocating didn’t stop there. Bobbie continued to make her voice heard throughout the company; soon, her concerns were heard by Yellow Cab’s national leadership team. Bobbie was notified that the Yellow Cab’s computer system would be updated immediately, and this update would allow all their drivers to accept the taxi vouchers in-person throughout the nation.
32 clients moved into housing during the Downtown surge and Bobbie helped transport the majority of them. Bobbie’s kindness and compassion inspire everyone around her, including us at the Coalition; we are grateful to her and are honored to consider her an ally and a friend!
Special thanks to the many partners who assisted with this housing surge:
Clutch Consulting
HPD Homeless Outreach Team
SEARCH Homeless Services
The Harris Center
Career and Recovery
Healthcare for the Homeless
Salvation Army
Houston Police Department’s Differential Response Team (DRT)
The City of Houston
Houston’s Downtown Management District
The Beacon
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.
