World Homeless Day 2023
Fryda Ochoa • October 10, 2023
World Homeless Day is observed internationally every year on Oct. 10 to bring focus to the issues of homelessness and inadequate housing.
Did you know?
- More than 3,200 people across Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties experience homelessness on any given night.
- Homelessness reduces life expectancy, taking 20-30 years off one’s life.
- The primary causes of homelessness are lack of affordable housing, unemployment, low wages, chronic health conditions, domestic violence and systemic inequality.
How has CFTH made a difference in the lives of people experiencing homelessness?
As the lead agency to Houston’s homeless response system, The Way Home, CFTH coordinates the efforts of over 100 direct service partners. Our collaboration has:
- Housed more than 28,000 people in Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties since 2012 with a 21% reduction in overall homelessness since 2018.
- Decommissioned more than 100 encampments since 2021 and helped more than 400 people begin their journey to housing directly from these encampments.
- Secured more than $179 million in public funding for homelessness response in the Houston region in FY23 alone.
We are only able to accomplish this through the help of our incredible partners, the expert staff at CFTH, and donors like you! Today, on World Homeless Day, we hope that you will choose to recommit to CFTH’s vision of a community where everyone has a safe place to call home. Here’s how:
Consider recognizing World Homeless Day by making an impact, not just once or twice, but on a recurring basis! Every $1 you give to CFTH leverages an additional $91 in public funding to help the most vulnerable people in our community.
Everyone deserves a safe place to call home. Thank you for helping CFTH’s work towards a future where that is a reality.
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.
