Opportunity doesn't always work out

Houston's homeless population jumps 25 percent in one year and services struggleto keep up

The stock market might be back up and the unemployment rate might be falling ever so slightly, but the economic recovery seems pretty far removed from the hardest hit Houstonians.

According to the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County, the homeless population in Harris and Fort Bend counties increased a full 25 percent in 2010. As first reported by the Houston Chronicle, the canvas of 400 coalition volunteers on Jan. 31 found 8,538 men, women and children, an increase of more than 1,700 over the previous count.

This increase meant a dramatic rise in the amount of homeless sleeping on the streets. In 2010, 30 percent of the homeless (2,103 people) were on the streets or other non-habitation areas. This year more than half of Houston's homeless population — 4,418, or 51.7 percent — were unsheltered during the count.

Coalition for the Homeless CEO Connie Boyd tells CultureMap that the numbers were expected considering the economic climate.

"I don't think it surprised us," Boyd says. "We had a great methodology that helped get accurate numbers, and nationwide we can see the trend going up, among families with children, the chronically homeless and the economy. We saw an increase in 2009 as well. Texas is a relatively good place to be which makes us a magnet for those struggling with job opportunities. Sometimes those dreams don't work out."

Boyd said one major difference between Houston and other large cities with sizeable homeless populations is that Houston has very little funding for homeless relief coming in from the state, city and county. But one factor that will come into play is the more than $3 million in federal Housing and Urban Development grants that were awarded to several Houston shelters in April.

"The funding will start in September and will hit several key areas," says Boyd, who says the biggest problem for Houstonians facing homelessness is a lack of affordable housing. "It will not resolve all of the issues, but the focus on permanent supportive housing, it will help some of the grey areas. But until we all come together for strategies on where to put resources, the problem is going to be cyclical.

"The biggest thing we can do is get a sense of urgency in the community, and work together to look at the system."

Another program that has stepped in to house more homeless women is the Salvation Army. Sally's House on the east side of downtown has long been a transitional home for women recovering from drug and alcohol problems, and now it is stepping forward to offer beds to women living on the streets as part of a pilot program. According to KUHF, Sally's House has only 60 total beds for now, but will be increasing its capacity as a new wing is built this year.

According to Boyd, new capacity alone can't be a solution to growing Houston homelessness, it's finding ways to bring different organizations, each with their own strengths, together.

"We have a lot of great silos of excellence, but to get people to collaborate, to get people to think what they need to do for the whole is a challenge," she says.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”