According to a 2019 homeless count from Houston-based nonprofit The Coalition for the Homeless, 212 people were living in shelters and 86 were living unsheltered in Montgomery County—a 54% increase from 2017, when the county was first included in the report, which also surveys Fort Bend and Harris counties.
Nancy Heintz, the Coalition for The Homeless project manager for Montgomery County, said numbers for The Woodlands area are difficult to track because people often slip through the cracks. Heintz said limited support in the area for individuals needing emergency shelter causes displaced individuals to pass through The Woodlands while they make their way toward northern parts of the county such as Conroe, where shelters are more prominent.
“It is harder to find people because of the amount of trees and places people can go,” Heintz said. “We know agencies say they get people from The Woodlands that have been sleeping in parks where they can tuck in and sleep.”•Although chronic homelessness is limited in The Woodlands area—local nonprofit Interfaith of The Woodlands reported it served only eight individuals who had no plan for permanent housing since 2015—nonprofits that offer transitional housing and other forms of care are the primary sources available for aid.
Families in transition
Heintz said Interfaith of The Woodlands is important as a provider of transitional housing in the area, and area churches often organize food pantries and drives to provide help for low- and no-income families.
Interfaith Vice President of Programs Lucy Gomez said most of the •nonprofit’s• homeless clients stem from family separations or from families having to relocate. Gomez said Interfaith places individuals in need of emergency shelter in a local budget motel for up to two weeks.
“We put them in a shelter so they can make a plan if they do not already have one,” Gomez said. “We work very closely with our community partners in identifying those folks that are homeless and wanting to move into permanent housing. We equip them with the resources they need to help them along that transition.”
Gomez said Interfaith’s efforts focus on preventing homelessness by providing financial and educational resources prior to evictions. Interfaith saw an uptick of displaced people in 2016 and 2017 due to Hurricane Harvey, and in 2018 the number of assisted families dropped to about 20 needing shelter, she said.
Shirley Grimes, the director of the Tamina Community Center, which was established in 1998, said the nonprofit is working on adding space to the center specifically for homeless women because she is seeing a need in the community. The center provides programs and resources for families and children in Montgomery County.
“In this area, some people find the nearest park where they can sleep,” Grimes said. “It [happens] often, but it is two or three of them that stay in the park and they leave in the morning.”
Grimes said she began seeing young mothers and their children displaced after Hurricane Harvey, but the problem has persisted since then to a lesser extent. •Once the Tamina Community Center opens its converted space for homeless mothers and their children in early 2020, it will provide temporary shelter for up to 15 individuals for Montgomery County and the surrounding areas, Grimes said.
Broken systems
According to Heintz, a lack of affordable housing in Montgomery County is the primary factor that leads to homelessness, especially for those working minimum-wage jobs.
U.S. Census Bureau data from 2017, the most recent data available, indicates 3,923 households out of 39,894 in The Woodlands—nearly 10%—reported a household income of lower than $25,000 annually. The median housing cost for the same area is estimated at $1,781, according to census data. In The Woodlands, there are a total of five apartments that offer subsidized housing.
“We say homelessness is a symptom of many other broken systems,” Heintz said. “It is often the last stop for those who have been failed by a lack of support or safety-net services. We are seeing more situational homelessness, which is where people lose a job and have gone through their savings, or domestic violence, where women do not want to go back to their abuser.”
The issue affects more than adults in the area. Lynda Gowin, a parent education social worker and homeless liaison for Conroe ISD, said there are around 700 students experiencing homelessness in the district.
“We identify families that are living in shelters or doubled up because they have lost housing,” Gowin said. “About 75% of our [homeless] families fall under that category.”
In early October, Gowin said she spoke with a single mother who has children going to school in The Woodlands, but due to a lack of rental assistance she is currently having to drive from a shelter in Houston on a daily basis to ensure her children have continuity in their education.
The effect on education is noticeable for students living in uncertain housing situations, Gowin said.
“They may struggle with their assignments,” she said. “They may not have their clothes clean and are not wanting to come to school. We had one girl that did not want to come on the first day of school because she was not able to have any new clothes,”
The county plan
To combat homelessness, Montgomery County Community Development, which is funded by the federal government, put together a five-year plan in 2014 to build either one large or two smaller homeless shelters, an empowerment center and transitional housing for the homeless population. MCCD provides funding to build the facilities and gives them to area nonprofits so there are no mortgage costs, but operation costs can not be paid for by federal dollars, Ducharme said.
According to MCCD Director Joanne Ducharme, parts of the five-year plan were completed, although not necessarily as a result of county-funded initiatives.•“The county did not expand sheltering, but sheltering expanded,” Ducharme said. “It does not necessarily have to be county funded. The Salvation Army [in Conroe] built an expanded shelter, and a couple of the other shelters added beds. Our department also funded some shelters that were able to expand services.”
Ducharme said the empowerment center was built, but before it could open there was a change in board leadership and the building was given to Meals on Wheels, which will use it as an expanded kitchen. Meals on Wheels acts indirectly as a homelessness prevention project by keeping elderly people in their homes and encouraging independent living.
Heintz said MCCD is still working to build the two smaller homeless shelters, but it is difficult to find organizations that are willing and able to operate them. Montgomery County’s main emergency shelter, which can hold around 70 individuals, is operated with the Salvation Army in Conroe. In emergencies, there may not be space for families to stay together, Heintz said.•As of press time, updates on the construction of the shelters were not available from MCCD, but the shelters are still labeled as active on the 2018-23 five-year plan.
Helping the homeless
Heintz said she believes the best way for residents to help the homeless in The Woodlands is to try and connect them to emergency shelters and support agencies that are working to help homeless individuals.
With organizations such as Interfaith, Gomez said food drives and monetary donations are always welcome, as they help feed and shelter displaced families.•Other entities, such as the Montgomery County Food Bank and Interfaith, have arranged annual holiday benefits. The food bank has a holiday food drive running through Dec. 9, with donations being accepted at Glade Arts Foundation. Interfaith also encourages donations of canned goods and personal care items through November and December.
Grimes said she thinks a national change in mindset is needed to address the needs of the homeless.
“I’m hoping Montgomery County and some of our elected officials give these people a second chance,” Grimes said. “Some of them have made mistakes in their past, and it is being held over their head. Now, when some of them are seniors, they cannot get a house.”
Kara McIntyre contributed to this report.
