The details
As part of the workshop, several presenters provided what their organizations are doing to fight the problem of homelessness in Fort Worth. According to a city news release, organizations represented in the workshop include:
- Department of Veteran Affairs
- DRC Solutions, formerly Day Resource Center for the Homeless
- Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce
- Fort Worth Housing Solutions
- My Health, My Resources of Tarrant County
- Presbyterian Night Shelter
- Tarrant County Homelessness Coalition
- Tarrant County Samaritan Housing
A closer look
Some statistics presented in the workshop include:
- three million pounds of debris collected from 927 homeless camps by city staff in 2023
- $26 million allocated by the city to produce more than 200 units of permanent supportive housing and homeless family units
- 2,100 people experience homelessness each night in Fort Worth
- six months is the amount of time the majority of the city’s homeless population is homeless
What they’re saying
“I’ve been around city government for over 10 years, and I think this is the most committed council to this issue,” Parker said. “When it comes to affordable housing projects or making major investments, you’ve really listened to staff leadership over the last several council sessions and made the right level of funding needed, but there’s still more to do.”
“[Homelessness] is prominent in the minds of our residents,” Assistant City Manager Fernando Costa said. “In survey after survey about issues that are important, it’s something that our residents want us to address, and yet it’s something that not all residents fully understand.”
The Feb. 13 homelessness workshop was for informational purposes only. The news release states that Tarrant County Homeless Coalition will release its 2024 report and host the state of the homeless address at 9 a.m. on March 27 at Texas Wesleyan University.