National studies show that chronic homeless individuals account for only 25% of a major city’s homeless population, but consume 75% of the homeless resources. In Houston, there are approximately 2,500 chronic and near-chronic homeless individuals, costing an estimated $103 million in public resources per year.

Houston Registry Week is the first of a three-prong, comprehensive, community-driven plan to reduce chronic homelessness in Houston that includes: (1) identifying and prioritizing the most vulnerable homeless individuals, (2) placing them into permanent housing, and (3) providing needed services and treatments.

Houston Registry Week is part of the national 100,000 Homes Campaign – a grassroots movement of over 175 communities to find and place chronically homeless individuals into 100,000 homes across the nation. As part of the campaign, volunteers are using a 33-item questionnaire to gather targeted information on the individual’s health status, institutional history (jail, prison, hospital, and military), length of homelessness, patterns of shelter or mission use, and previous housing situations.

“Registry Week is an exciting opportunity to create a comprehensive database of people living on our streets and in our shelters, enabling us, as a community, to know the homeless by name, to understand their stories, and to identify their needs,” explained Neal Rackleff, Director of the City’s Housing and Community Development Department. “The information gathered is crucial to our ability to place our most vulnerable into permanent housing with supportive services to break the cycle of homelessness.”

Under Mayor Parker’s leadership, Houston Registry Week is an initiative of the City of Houston in partnership with the Harris County Housing Authority, SEARCH Homeless Services, The Beacon, Coalition for the Homeless, Houston Housing Authority, Continuum of Care and other integral community partners.

“The Houston Housing Authority is committed to fighting homelessness in Houston and we are glad to work with great community partners that share our vision,” said Tory Gunsolley, Houston Housing Authority’s President & CEO. “By working with community partners we were able to get 101 homeless veterans housed in 100 days, and with this campaign we will be able to do even more to help Houston’s homeless receive the housing and supportive services that they need.”

Mayor Parker is scheduled to present the findings from Houston Registry Week immediately following the regularly scheduled City Council meeting on May 15, 2013.