Community Members Assist in 2014 Houston Homeless Count
Communications Admin • February 5, 2014
The Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County conducted the annual 2014 Houston Homeless Count on January 30, with the help of partner organizations, local government agencies, faith-based organizations, local universities, and community members.
The Count is a requirement of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the local Continuum of Care (CoC)
funding process, which brought more than $25 million to homeless assistance programs in Houston, Harris County, and Fort Bend County during the fiscal year (FY) 2012. On the night of the Count, more than 500 volunteers from the community depart from 10 staging areas across Houston, Harris County, and Fort Bend County to count individuals, veterans, families, and young people that live on the streets. Surface Teams conducted their count from vehicles, while Specialized Outreach Teams, comprised of staff from local service providers and government agencies, conducted interviews on foot.
In addition to the unsheltered count, there is also a sheltered count known as the Housing Inventory Chart (HIC), conducted on the same night through the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)
which the Coalition manages. The HIC provides an inventory of projects within the Houston/Harris County CoC that provide beds and units dedicated to serve homeless individuals and reflects the number of beds and units available on the night of the Count that are dedicated to serve homeless individuals.
The total number of sheltered and unsheltered homeless individuals is then reported to HUD, and the information gathered assists our community in determining what type of services and housing is needed to best serve our homeless population. In 2013, Houston counted 2,978 unsheltered homeless individuals and 3,381 sheltered homeless individuals for a total of 6,359 homeless people on any given night in our community. There has been a 27% decrease in this number from 2011, and the community is hopeful that the 2014 Count will highlight even more success in ending homelessness.
“In 2013, there were great strides made in housing homeless veterans and other individuals through collaborative efforts of Houston’s homeless service providers,” said Marilyn Brown, President/CEO of the Coalition. “The 2013 Homeless Count provided our agencies with hard data about the characteristics of the area’s homeless community. In turn this helped our service providers develop assistance programs for people who are homeless. The 2014 Count will hopefully validate our common goal of working together as a system, rather than independent agencies operating on their own, to prevent and end homelessness. We anticipate this Count will collect more specific demographic information that will help us strengthen our existing programs.”
In the coming weeks, the data that these volunteers collected will be analyzed by an expert consultant who will create the 2014 report. As soon as this data is published it will be shared with the public.
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.
