Charity donates to homelessness groups
The New York Times has touted “how Houston is fixing homelessness.” Politicians from Colorado, California and Washington have reached out to Houston leaders to see what they can learn.
Even during COVID — as first unemployment, then housing prices and inflation surged — the Houston region brought its annual count of people living in shelters, on sidewalks, in tents and cars, or other places not meant for habitation down by roughly a fifth.
Tuesday morning, the Houston Endowment, a philanthropic foundation, announced a $15 million grant to organizations to sustain the fight against homelessness in the Houston area, along with a call to action.
Ann Stern, chief executive of the nonprofit, noted that recent progress in reducing Houston’s homeless population came as COVID unlocked a surge of federal funding. Mayor Sylvester Turner, who has made reducing the region’s homeless population one of his priorities, helped direct over $40 million of those funds toward initiatives to fight homelessness. But now COVID funds are ending, and it is unclear whether the new Houston mayor elected this November will share Turner’s priorities.
“There will be a funding gap going forward,” Stern said. “We want to call attention to the fact that this work isn’t done. It will never be done … We will need funding from private and public funding to keep this success story successful.”
The Houston Endowment was founded during the Great Depression by Houstonians Jesse H. Jones, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce under Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Mary Gibbs Jones, who helped establish some of Houston’s early nonprofits. Over the past 10 years, the Houston Endowment has contributed $30 million to combat homelessness.
The $15 million grant will go to four Houston-area organizations. Ten million dollars will go to the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston and Harris County, a group that coordinates strategy and federal funding for dozens of organizations around the region. Three million dollars will go to SEARCH Homeless Services, which engages with people living on the street and helps guide them through the housing process. And $1 million apiece will go to the Beacon, Houston’s day shelter, and U.S. VETS, which provides services to veterans.
David Traxler, executive director for U.S. VETS Houston, said the grant was a “blessing” that caught the organization off guard. While the Houston Endowment has long supported U.S. VETS, this donation was ten times what the group expected to receive.
“And it’s just come at the perfect time for us,” he said. COVID-era funding from Veterans Affairs ended in May, and the organization is currently converting a hotel into veteran housing.
Alexis Loving, the chief executive of SEARCH, said she gasped when she received the call about the grant. “I had to check the dollar figure a few times because it’s such a transformative gift,” she said. “Houston has done so much in the past couple of years, and we want to make sure we don’t take a step backward.”
Becky Landes, chief executive of the Beacon, called news of the grant overwhelming and exciting. She said the day shelter, where people can have a meal, shower, do laundry and get connected to services, would focus the funding on making it easier for people who come through their doors to get into housing.
And Mike Nichols, chief executive of the Coalition, said he was thrilled by the grant and what it would mean for the organization’s future. “We want it to last a long time,” he said, explaining that the group planned to invest the funding.
The Coalition could then pull on the funds occasionally to quickly respond to needs that may arise, such as the increased housing instability following Hurricane Harvey and the onset of COVID-19. Because government funding in such situations can be slow, the Coalition could pull on the grant funds to pay partners quickly while waiting for reimbursements. Since the Coalition plans to use the funds as an endowment, the grant will not change its fundraising or spending plans.
Stern of the Houston Endowment said that the community needs to continue to pull together to ensure those who need housing receive it and that there is staff to support people before and after they receive housing. Houston also has to prepare to adapt to what the future may bring. For example, Houston’s homeless population ticked up after Hurricane Harvey.
“We’re putting this $15 million in… We will need additional private support going forward,” Stern said. “And public dollars will be needed.”