Hurricane Beryl: Our Post-Hurricane Efforts

CFTH and partners of The Way Home mobilized to help our unhoused neighbors

On the morning of Monday, July 8th, Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Texas. Starting as a Category 1 hurricane and later weakening to a tropical storm, Beryl brought 80mph winds and several inches of rain to Houston, leaving over 2 million people without power for days.

As the winds and waters began to recede, we got to work.

Coordinating with local emergency management authorities

As designated coordinator to The Way Home (our local homeless response system), we proactively work with local government entities to advocate on behalf of people experiencing homelessness to ensure their needs are being considered during severe weather events. Because we are not emergency responders, we rely on our local offices of emergency management to lead the way and make resources available during natural disasters. We're grateful to the City and County emergency response teams and the first responders who ensure people's safety during extreme weather events. 

Disseminating vital information

During and immediately after the storm, we launched a resource page to help broadcast important information about emergency and disaster shelters, cooling centers, water and food distribution centers and other vital updates.

Supporting our Housing Program and Shelter partners

Shortly after Beryl, our team members contacted homeless service providers and other partners in The Way Home to assess the impact on their facilities and operations, to understand their needs, and to determine how we could best offer support. We learned that the storm left several of our partners — both shelters and permanent housing programs — without power and with shortages of essential resources. Many shelters had to suspend intake temporarily or operate under challenging conditions such as relying on generators.

By leveraging our networks, we were able to facilitate food and water distributions in collaboration with Lakewood Church to New Hope Housing, and we secured essential supplies for some other partners as well.

One of our main priorities is making sure that people who are currently residing in a housing program of The Way Home do not fall back into homelessness due to this disaster.

Preventing Homelessness Post-Disaster

Now, as disaster shelters begin to wind down their operations, we are collaborating closely with agencies like 211, Alliance of Community Assistance Ministries (ACAM) and FEMA to prevent individuals whose homes may have been damaged by Beryl from falling into homelessness.

Looking Ahead

As Houston continues its recovery from Hurricane Beryl, our focus remains clear: to support and protect our homeless community members through coordinated efforts, advocacy, and outreach. By working collaboratively with partners and stakeholders, our efforts have focused on maintaining essential services, advocating for necessary resources, and preventing displacement among vulnerable populations. Ultimately, the impact of Hurricane Beryl underlines the need to invest more resources in housing and services to remove our unhoused neighbors from risk. The best way to make our community more resilient is to ensure there are as few people living unsheltered/on the streets as possible before a natural disaster strikes!

As we move forward, we extend our heartfelt thank you to everyone involved for their compassion and resolve during this critical time.

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