The site, https://dallashomelesssolutions.com will highlight the office's initiatives, partnerships and progress in addressing the issue of homelessness, according to a news release. In addition, the website provides information to residents on how to volunteer and donate.
“Our goal is to overcome homelessness throughout the city by implementing initiatives with consistency, transparency and accountability,” the site states.
Local organizations can also use the site to find ways to donate and register with the city to become a vendor providing shelter during inclement weather.
The goal of the newly launched website is to make more information available to the public, while broadening the “scope of conversation” around homelessness in the city, the department wrote in a blog post. On the site, visitors can read about recent outreach efforts and success stories of those who have found housing.
The Office of Homeless Solutions was formed in 2017 in an effort to consolidate a handful of the city’s homelessness-focused services.
Despite rising economic pressures, Dallas and Collin counties have seen their homeless populations decline year-over-year from 4,410 individuals to 3,190, according to a point-in-time count conducted in February.
In June 2021, the Office of Homeless Solutions joined Housing Forward and other organizations in launching the Dallas Real Time Rapid Rehousing Initiative, which is aimed at rehousing 2,700 individuals. With $72 million in funding commitments from private donors, federal money and housing vouchers from the American Rescue Plan Act, the initiative has so far found housing for 1,220 individuals, per the initiative’s online dashboard.
“The picture of homelessness is not static,” said Joli Robinson, president and CEO of Housing Forward, at a Dallas Area Partnership to End and Prevent Homelessness Local Government Board meeting in October. “People—individuals and families—are brushing up against the homeless response team daily.”
