Reflecting on the Progress & Challenges of 2020

A Letter from Coalition President/CEO Mike Nichols

As we begin 2021, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the year behind us.

Going into 2020, none among us could have anticipated that we would face a global pandemic, the human and economic damage of which has yet to be fully realized and will likely shape our work for years to come. We also faced a cultural reckoning regarding deeply entrenched racist policies in our country highlighted by the murder of George Floyd.

In the wake of these events, we did not simply wring our hands. We rolled up our sleeves. We asked ourselves, “How can we best serve those most vulnerable among us: people experiencing homelessness? How can we make sure their needs are accounted for as our community’s leaders plan a response to the challenges that face us? How do we become an anti-racist homeless response system?”

That’s why I’m so proud of the work of The Way Home Continuum of Care, and our greater Houston community at large.

From nonprofit organizations to government partners to philanthropy and beyond, we have worked together to accomplish a lot for our most vulnerable neighbors:

With the City of Houston and Healthcare for the Homeless-Houston: A dedicated COVID testing process for people experiencing homelessness;
With the City of Houston and Salvation Army of Greater Houston: An auxiliary shelter, to help de-densify emergency shelters to slow the spread of COVID;
With the City of Houston and Harris County: A quarantine and isolation facility for people experiencing homelessness to recover from COVID, or to await the results of a COVID test
With The Harris Center, the City of Houston, and Harris County: a new respite, re-entry and rehabilitation center where patients with acute mental health conditions can stabilize before transitioning to permanent housing;
With the help of Harris County: A unanimously approved Homeless Task force report, which included a recommendation that Harris County allocate general funds to support homelessness programs for the first time in our region;
With many current partners of The Way Home, new service organizations, the City of Houston, Harris County, and private philanthropy: The $65 million Community COVID Housing Program (CCHP), which will help 5,000 people experiencing homelessness over the next two years.

And on top of all that, we:

Housed:

886 people in Permanent Supportive Housing
895 people in Rapid Re-Housing

Were also able to continue to serve:

Almost 6,000 people who had previously been placed in PSH
Almost 2,000 people who had previously been placed in RRH

As we look ahead to 2021, the primary challenge before us is to continue our region’s great work to secure and move people into sustainable permanent housing programs — work that is accelerated through CCHP.

We also look forward to:

Officially launching a Diversion program in the Houston/Harris County area for the first time;
Continuing to expand access to quality affordable housing;
Advocating for more funding and more equitable treatment for people experiencing homelessness;
Advocating for change in Medicaid to give broader services to people experiencing homelessness; and
Addressing racial equity across our CoC.

Just as hope for an end to the pandemic is right around the corner with the roll-out of a vaccine, hope for an end to chronic homelessness in our region is right around the corner, too. With the influx of funds made available for COVID response, we have chosen to prioritize permanent housing, rather than temporary solutions like hotels, for our most vulnerable, which sets us on a path to effectively end chronic homelessness. That’s a decision we can all be proud of.

The Coalition for the Homeless is honored to serve as the lead agency for The Way Home. I look forward to continuing our work together with all of our partners in the Continuum of Care across Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties; our government funders; our public and non-profit service providers; our philanthropic funders; our adjacent system partners; and our volunteers to make homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring.

Mike Nichols

President & CEO

Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County

< Older Post

Newer Post >

CFTH Leads 2026 PIT Count of People Experiencing Homelessness

By Catherine Villarreal • February 24, 2026

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.

Preparing for a Winter Storm

By Catherine Villarreal • January 21, 2026

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.

Press Release: CFTH’S 2025 Point-in-Time Count Results Highlight Shifts in Homelessness Across Houston

By Fryda Ochoa • September 9, 2025

While our system has helped thousands of people move from homelessness to housing, this year’s results highlight the need to broaden our approach.