New approaches to solving homelessness and a surge in area nonprofit activity may have contributed to a decrease in the number of Greater Houston area homeless individuals over the last six years, according to an annual count. But while overall homelessness in the region has decreased 60 percent from 2011 to 2017, Carole Little, president of Northwest Assistance Ministries, a Spring-based nonprofit, said she believes a shift in demographics has led to an uptick in homelessness in suburban areas, including the FM 1960 corridor in Spring and Klein. “That old notion of, ‘I want a house in the suburbs’ … that’s not playing out anymore. People are now wanting to live downtown,” Little said. “When those changes start occurring, property values start rising, taxes rise and that really pushed a lot of the urban poverty out into the suburbs.” Along with the shifting demographics, organizations now have to consider how flooding from Hurricane Harvey has affected homelessness throughout the Greater Houston area, although Harvey’s effects may not be clear until the next annual count in January, said Marilyn Brown, president of the nonprofit Coalition for the Homeless of Houston. “Often, people are living so close to the edge that they are just one crisis away,” Brown said. “Whether it’s somebody got sick and couldn’t go to work or their car breaks and can’t get to work. There are a lot of instances of crisis that hit people.” Homeless numbers declining The Coalition for the Homeless of Houston is the leading organization for an annual count measuring the number of homeless individuals in the Greater Houston area over a three-day period every January. Over the past six years, the number of homeless individuals identified by the count across Harris and Fort Bend counties has decreased from 8,538 in 2011 to 3,412 in 2017. The coalition gathers data and measures the success of agencies working to end homelessness throughout the Greater Houston area. Brown said the coalition also serves as the leading agency for the Houston-area Continuum of Care, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program that channels federal funding to organizations working to end homelessness. The annual count is a COC requirement. The Houston-area COC received about $33 million in federal funding  to help address homelessness in 2016 and consists of many organizations, including the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston—which received $1.7 million in 2016—and NAM. Brown said she believes the main driver of the decrease in homelessness  is a shift in how organizations within the COC help the homeless. “We kind of flipped it on its head,” Brown said. “What we realized is that we were helping people manage their homelessness. Now, instead of helping them figure out issues and then talking about housing, we start talking about housing on day one.” Little said after a homeless individual finds a home, NAM works on addressing the challenges the client is facing, including mental health problems, drug or alcohol addiction, domestic violence or poverty. Bob Butler, executive director of the 1960 Hope Center—a day shelter that provides individuals with a place to shower, do laundry, eat, sleep and apply for jobs—said although he is confident a decrease in homelessness is accurate, he believes there are homeless individuals living in encampments in the woods along FM 1960 who are not reached for the count. Another reason this number could be inaccurate is the definition of a homeless person­—which HUD sets for the count­— does not include individuals who spend some nights in a motel but have no permanent place to live, said Luke Ditta, a deputy with the Harris County sheriff’s office Homeless Outreach Team. “There is a high number of homeless that don’t get counted, in my opinion, every year,” Ditta said. Activity on FM 1960 Many of the homeless individuals in Spring and Klein can be found along FM 1960, Ditta said. This can partially be attributed to the bus routes that run from FM 1960 to downtown Houston, where many services for the homeless are located, including the overnight shelter Star of Hope, Butler said. This concentration along FM 1960 has led a number of organizations to open there, including H.O.P.E. Haven—which stands for Helping Others Pursue Excellence—and 1960 Hope Center, which opened in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Butler said 1960 Hope Center started at St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church on Stuebner Airline Road but expanded to a permanent location last year when members recognized the need for its services. “We saw homeless men and women living in fields, huddled in doorways on rainy days,” Butler said. “We knew [1960 Hope Center] was needed.” Butler said 40-50 individuals visit the shelter daily, and the center has registered 735 people since it opened. However, he said he is concerned the center does not have enough space or amenities to meet the area’s needs. It has one shower, three restrooms, and one washer and dryer. Butler said he hopes to move the organization to a 10,000-square-foot building with four showers, six restrooms, and four washers and dryers by the end of 2018. He said he has not identified a new location but is looking for a standalone building. To achieve this, the center launched a donation campaign in November to raise the $1.3 million needed to fund and furnish a new space, he said. In addition to new nonprofits addressing the problem in recent years, the Harris County sheriff’s office HOT began in 2015 when the two-person team—Ditta and his partner James Kelley—began providing outreach services to homeless individuals. Ditta said Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez wants to  launch additional teams in 2018. The HOT process involves engaging with individuals and building trust so HOT can help them overcome the challenges that are keeping them on the street, Ditta said. “Our first contact, we give them self-sustaining emergency aid items as well as some hygiene packets,” Ditta said. “[We tell them], ‘We aren’t here to arrest you or write you a citation. We’re here to fix your barriers.’” Although it covers all of Harris County, HOT primarily focuses on Northwest Harris County, especially the FM 1960 corridor, Ditta said. From November 2015 to October 2017, HOT made contact with 2,409 individuals, 1,437 of which were in District 1—which includes Spring and Klein. In its two years of operation, HOT has helped 144 people find permanent housing. It also provides tools to homeless individuals, including a HOT identification card. This card is administered by the team and consists of a photo of the homeless individuals along with their personal information, Ditta said. Individuals can use the cards to access shelters, rehabilitation centers and mental health programs. The cards also function as a supporting document with the Texas Department of Public Safety for individuals who want to obtain a Texas ID or driver’s license. “I’ll be the first to admit, when I was younger, I would drive by the street corner and I would think, ‘Go get a job,’” Ditta said. “Well, it’s not that easy. They can’t just go get a job without following the steps to get to that point.” Harvey’s effects While the Greater Houston area has experienced a decrease in homelessness over the years, so has the state of Texas. According to the 2016 Annual Homeless Assessment Report provided to Congress by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the number of people experiencing homelessness in Texas decreased about 42 percent from 2007-16. Naomi Cantu, Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs coordinator for homelessness programs and policy, said she believes an increase in funding for statewide initiatives and more coordination between state agencies that work on homelessness has contributed to this decrease. One of the primary statewide programs is the Homeless Housing and Services Program—created in 2009 by Texas Legislature—which provided $4.9 million in funding to large cities in support of services to homeless individuals in 2017, she said. Officials now have to consider how Hurricane Harvey has affected homelessness after it displaced thousands of families in late August. Cantu said it is too soon to determine the storm’s long-term effects on the state’s homeless population. Little said NAM has rehoused more than 2,000 families since flooding from the storm subsided. The flooding has also increased the number of homeless students within local school districts. A total of 223 students in Klein ISD are homeless because of the flooding, compared to 102 students who are homeless for other reasons, said Judy Rimato, KISD associate superintendent for communications and planning. The number of students who are homeless within Spring ISD has also increased since the flooding, said Lupita Hinojosa, chief of school leadership and student support services. Since May, the number of homeless students in SISD has increased from 314 to 645, she said. Hinojosa said SISD is keeping track of students in these conditions and offering counseling and referrals to social services to affected students’ families. Kelley said for five days before Harvey hit the Greater Houston area, HOT traveled to low-lying areas throughout Harris County to warn homeless individuals of the storm. “Whether we saved lives I don’t know,” Kelley said. “But I know a lot of the areas we reached out to all washed away.”