The Count, managed by CFTH through nine staging areas throughout Houston, Harris and Fort Bend Counties, serves as the primary source of data locally and nationally to verify homelessness trends and to track progress on community efforts to prevent and end homelessness. Last year’s Count (January 2011), revealed a 25% increase over 2010 in homelessness (8,538 homeless were counted) which ranked Houston as having the largest homeless population in Texas and the 8th largest in the US.

During the course of the count, efforts are taken by the outreach teams to connect homeless men, women, youth and families with immediate referrals to shelter and services. In addition to the unsheltered homeless count, the Coalition will conduct a count of those who are homeless but sheltered on the same day. Conducting both an unsheltered count and sheltered count provides a more in depth picture of homelessness in Harris and Fort Bend Counties. Count information is not only reported to HUD and Congress, but is used locally to help CFTH and providers design housing and service programs that will achieve the community’s ultimate goal: a homeless system that achieves decreases in new homelessness, length of homelessness and returns to homelessness.

The importance of the 2012 Homeless Count was noticed by over 400 concerned citizens who have volunteered to canvass neighborhoods throughout Harris and Fort Bend Counties. Volunteers are assigned to staging areas that mobilize them into teams of four, one of whom is an experienced count volunteer, to document individuals, families with children and youth who are homeless by driving through researched areas where homelessness persists. Special populations such as homeless veterans, youth, mentally ill, and persons fleeing domestic violence are engaged by specialized outreach teams. Houston Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Team provides guidance and safety information for all teams.

CFTH would like to thank our donors/sponsors for the 2012 Homeless Count. Sponsors include: Insperity, Gensler and Reliant and funding for the Stand Up and Be Counted Corps pilot project, an activity of the

Count, has also been generously provided by a United Way of Greater Houston Community Building Grant. Mayor Annise Parker recently urged Houstonians to volunteer for the Count and donated 21,000 tshirts to the cause through the Mayor’s Citizen’s Assistance Office. Volunteers can still join in the efforts online at www.houstonhomelesscount.org.