Our community does more than just put a roof over someone’s head. We try to ensure that everyone who receives services is set up for success and does not return to homelessness.
For businesses, the exponential growth Tarrant County is seen is a positive thing – it means more customers, more demand and typically more revenue.
But continuous growth does not always mean prosperity for everyone in our community, and for the first time in nearly five years our community saw an increase in the number of people who experience homelessness, according to our State of the Homeless 2018 report.
With growth also comes incredible opportunity as more forces driving change have come together to reduce and end homelessness.
As the organization charged with coordinating the community response to homelessness, Tarrant County Homeless Coalition is excited that our community has engaged elected officials, dedicated partners in service and involved citizens, all of whom are ready to be part of a shared vision for moving our community forward.
A demonstration of the forward movement in our community is the newly restructured Continuum of Care board of directors. This group now includes the mayors of local jurisdictions, county judges, business leaders, real estate developers, the faith-based community, neighborhood representatives and nonprofit representatives.
Despite seeing a slight increase in homelessness, our community is moving forward to address the issue and how it impacts various groups.
We saw a slight increase of 5 percent, which is reflective of what is occurring throughout the United States.
Nationally the number of people experiencing homelessness is growing. Increases in unsheltered homelessness in the 50 largest cities in the United States account for nearly all the national increase, growing by 9.4 percent. Locally, TCHC has created a community dashboard so that everyone can see our progressive impact on ending homelessness and how we’re all working together to move the needle on agreed-upon goals.
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What homelessness looks like in Tarrant and Parker counties:
• 6,701 individuals experienced homelessness last year.
• 2,015 individuals experience homelessness on any given night.
• 20 percent of people experiencing homelessness are families.
• 14 percent of people experiencing homelessness are children.
• 15 percent reduction in veterans experiencing homelessness
A significant achievement is the 15 percent reduction in homelessness among veterans. TCHC believes our community is on track to end veterans’ homelessness by the end of the year.
With this milestone, Tarrant County would join the ranks of a few other large cities that have ended veterans’ homelessness by creating a safety net to catch vets who become homeless and get them housed as quickly as possible.
When it comes down to it, regardless of other challenges people face when they are homeless, ultimately being homeless is to be without a place to live. When people lose their home, apartment or wherever they may be living, only then are they defined as homeless and experiencing a housing crisis.
TCHC, with our community, aims to strengthen and truly create a Housing Crisis System of Care. That is, our community must have an intertwined network of support services able to quickly respond to individuals and households experiencing a housing crisis and rapidly move them back into a permanent place to live.
Our Housing Crisis System of Care encompasses a wide array of services available to those in need.
Within our system of care are different agencies, different programs, different types of services, different target populations, different delivery methods and different sources of funding. Despite all those differences, we are united in our efforts to end homelessness.
Currently, we have 30 agencies, 98 programs and 4,447 beds in our system of care. Reducing and ending homelessness only happens because of the significant and impactful work of all of the organizations throughout our community.
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Ending homelessness in our community does not mean that no one will ever experience homelessness again.
What it does mean is that our community builds a Housing Crisis System of Care capable of responding and rehousing people within 30 days. Additionally, it means that homelessness is rare: fewer people experience homelessness; short-term: people spend less time without housing; and non-reoccurring: people do not return to homelessness.
When we move the needle on ending homelessness and make considerable gains toward our goal, everyone in the community will feel the impact of this system change and capacity.
As a community, we do so much good work to help those who are living without a place to call home.
Through collaborative work with our partners, our community moves about 10 people into a permanent place to live each week. And 86 percent of people who get out of homelessness don’t return.
Our community does more than just put a roof over someone’s head. We try to ensure that everyone who receives services is set up for success and does not return to homelessness.
The vast array of services, devoted professionals, volunteers who work tirelessly, groups who act as change agents and community members who mobilize for action are all a true testament to being part of a community that wants to make lasting change and ensure that everyone has a place to call home.
You can impact homelessness in our community in many ways: give your financial resources, share your time and talent or answer the call to action to advocate.
Consider giving one person a second chance by working with one of our partner agencies to hire someone who has experienced homelessness or to rent to someone leaving homelessness.
Whether you give your time, talent or treasure, your decision to make an impact on the issue of homelessness touches all the organizations we serve and groups we bring together in our community.
For more information: ahomewithhope.org
Tammy McGhee is executive director of the Tarrant County Homeless Coalition.