Supportive Services
Our Department provides long-term solutions by financially supporting short-term providers. We do not directly house individuals and cannot provide crisis services. For these short-term or immediate needs, find your needs here:
Houston Housing Authority
Online directory of services that help homeless or newly housed individuals in crises and provide short-term aid.
Managed by the Houston Housing Authority. Housing Choice Vouchers (formerly known as Section 8) help with rental costs to give residents more choice in where they live.
The Way Home
Printable guide for people experiencing homelessness to find shelters in their area.
Managed by the Houston Housing Authority. Housing Choice Vouchers (formerly known as Section 8) help with rental costs to give residents more choice in where they live.
Created by the Houston Coalition for the Homeless.
Houston Coalition for the Homeless
The Houston Coalition for the Homeless also updates a list of resources sorted by need on an interactive Help Card.
HCD provides financial support to nonprofits who provide essential services to residents of Houston. These services include healthcare, childcare, job training, legal services, homelessness prevention, rental-assistance, and more.
All the organizations we financially support can be found in this interactive map .
If you are an agency looking for funding opportunities, please refer to the Nonprofit Organizations page.
Our Role in Ending Homelessness
The City of Houston and the Housing and Community Development Department follow the steps laid out in the Way Home action plan and partner with local agencies to end homelessness overall. Our department does not directly house individuals. Instead, our role is to provide support and resources to service providers and find ways to connect people experiencing homelessness to the services they need. The Department supports the “Housing First” model, which focuses on providing permanent supportive housing and wraparound services to address physical and mental needs.
Our work to reduce homelessness has been recognized on a national scale. The City of Houston was recognized by the White House and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as the largest U.S. city to effectively end veteran homelessness in 2015. Houston has seen an 53% decrease in overall homelessness since 2011.
Key partners in the fight to end homelessness include:
- The Mayor’s Office for Homelessness Initiatives
- The Houston Coalition for the Homeless
- The Beacon
- SEARCH Homeless Services
Agencies looking to provide services to those experiencing homelessness should first look to partnering with the Houston Coalition for the Homeless, which is the lead organization in Houston working on homelessness issues. Organizations can also refer to the Nonprofit Organizations page to learn more about funding opportunities.
Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA)
The HOPWA Program funds organizations that specifically offer services to people with an HIV-positive diagnosis and their families.
Agencies looking to receive HOPWA funding to provide services should call our department directly at 832-394-6200 and refer to the Non-Profit Organizations page to learn more about funding opportunities.
