CFTH leads partners of The Way Home to decommission "Emancipation" encampment

Catherine Villarreal • Mar 27, 2023

We are proud to have led the work on the ground for the City of Houston and Harris County's encampment decommissioning through housing initiative earlier this month at the "Emancipation" encampment under I-45 from Chartres St to Emancipation Ave.

We are thrilled that 31 people went to the City's new Navigation Center, run by our partner Harmony House, Inc., and one other person went straight to housing.

See "before" and "after" photos of the site below.

BEFORE

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AFTER

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BEFORE

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AFTER

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BEFORE

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Did you know?

Our purpose at encampment decomissionings is to offer outreach services and connect people to housing.
Other entities do the clean-up and enforcement of any ordinances. (See full partner list below.)
Our goal is to get people into permanent housing, and we coordinate with other nonprofit, homeless-serving organizations of The Way Home to do this.
Since 2021, we have engaged more than 460 people experiencing homelessness at encampments around the Houston area.
Of those, around 350, or 75%, have accepted our offer to move to the housing navigation center or have moved directly into permanent housing.
If you count people who have “self-resolved,” it’s 422 people or more than 90%!
We only work with the City or County to decommission encampments when we have a housing option for every encampment resident.
Clients have the opportunity to bring some belongings to the navigation center and put additional items into storage.
It is only with their permission that any remaining belongings left behind at the encampment are disposed of.

The City of Houston and Harris County partnered with us and with the partners of The Way Home to not merely displace encampment residents but to holistically respond by moving them into housing.

We couldn't have done this work without our partners:

Harmony House operates the City's housing Navigation Center in the Fifth Ward and handled intake of the encampment residents.
Homeless outreach teams from CFTH and SEARCH offered client support.
Hope Haven and Avenue 360 offered service coordination.
The Harris Center was onsite to support clients with mental health needs.
The Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) of the Houston Police Department (HPD) issued notices that the encampment would be closing. They were also onsite to keep everyone safe and to help with traffic control.
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) handled waste removal.
METRO provided transportation for those who moved from the encampment site to the housing Navigation Center.