Staff Spotlight: Meet Michael Fraley!
Communications Admin • January 30, 2019
Michael Fraley, Project Manager with the Coalition for the Homeless, has been with the organization for two years in February. Originally from a suburb of Detroit in Columbus Township, Michigan, Michael moved to Houston to be closer to family in 2017.
Abbie: Where were you living and working before you moved to Texas in 2017?
Michael: After I graduated from Grand Valley State University, I pursued a master’s degree from Ball State University in Student Affairs and Higher Education. From there I moved to Vermont where I lived for 10 years and worked at the University of Vermont. I was eventually hired as a property manager for low-income housing and that’s how I kind of entered this world. I also worked at a homeless nonprofit agency doing short-term Rapid Re-housing.
Abbie: Tell me about your role at the Coalition and what it entails?
Michael: Right now I am a Project Manager. Originally I was brought into the organization to work with youth/young adult programs, but my role since then has changed. Now I concentrate more on program compliance, making sure our subrecipients ’ work align with grant requirements.
Abbie: What made you go into this type of work?
Michael: I really enjoy running a functional system to help individuals get into housing. Even though the Coalition is an administrative agency and I am further removed from direct service, the reward of seeing someone get those keys and get into a home of their own is such a joy.
Abbie: What would you say your favorite thing about working for the Coalition is?
Michael: I really like the autonomy that the Coalition gives. I love that we are creating a system to end homelessness in our Continuum of Care and I can be a part of the work that is done daily. I also enjoy working with other homeless service providers and partners of The Way Home to address homelessness as a community.
Abbie: Are there any projects you are working on right now?
Michael: I actually just finished coordinating the Community Conversation so there will definitely be ongoing work with the findings from that event. I’m really focusing on my new compliance role and putting structure together for subrecipients, auditing where it’s needed, and making sure all the necessary boxes are getting checked.
Abbie: What would you tell someone who was unfamiliar with The Way Home homeless service system?
Michael: I think the work we do goes largely unseen because it’s not always noticeable. Also, I wish more people knew that it only takes one major life event to become homeless and it can happen to anyone, at any time.
Abbie: Tell us one fun fact about yourself!
Michael: While living in Vermont, I owned and operated my own artisan jam business for six years called the Green Jam Man. I made over 120 flavors of homemade jam and marmalade and even won a Good Food Award!
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.
