100 Days In - A Letter From Kelly Young, President & CEO

Fryda Ochoa • Apr 24, 2024

Solving homelessness isn’t easy. It takes many partners working together — and one agency to coordinate them. 

As I reflect on these last few months of getting settled into this position, I can say that I thought I knew what the Coalition for the Homeless (CFTH) did and how The Way Home worked. What I have learned is how much more this team does behind the scenes, all to do right by our partners, for those we serve, and the system we coordinate. 


This is what I now know. 


Solving homelessness — for individuals, families, and entire communities — isn’t easy. It takes many partners working together — and one agency to coordinate them.


 That’s CFTH. CFTH is the backbone of Houston’s solutions to homelessness. CFTH, a nonprofit organization, uses the power of collective impact and its alliance between public entities and private organizations to be a collaborative hub to respond to homelessness.

CFTH is rooted in data. We focus on the system-level view, tracking trends, and identifying needs in Houston and surrounding areas. We’re pragmatic problem solvers. We champion housing with stability services as the solution to homelessness — because it works. We’re strategic. We focus on building relationships, leveraging available resources, and optimizing funding for maximum impact.

 

We’re collaborative. CFTH coordinates one of the nation’s most effective homeless response systems, The Way Home, with over 100 unbelievable and committed partners for maximum impact. The Way Home secures and grows funding, navigates the complexities of an ever-changing landscape, eradicates duplication across service providers, forecasts needs, and uncovers insights using data that we collect and maintain. As well as solving barriers to housing, we fill gaps, execute special projects to enhance homelessness response locally and nationally, build out best practices, drive the evolution of the system, and develop innovative programs to address homelessness.

 

This is how we spend our days – building and maintaining a system responsive to the work that needs to be done.

 

So, yes, the work is hard, but it’s not controversial. To live a self-determined life, people need a safe place to live from the moment they’re born to the moment they die. Our approach works. Housing people and providing stability services solves homelessness for individuals and families. A success rate of more than 80% for all interventions proves this. Partnership works. Collaboration and a focus on housing have decreased homelessness in Houston and surrounding counties by more than 60% since 2011. It’s a pragmatic and effective approach that saves taxpayer dollars, benefits our entire community — and has made Houston/Harris County a model for the nation.

 

Or, in a nutshell, CFTH makes the homeless response system work.

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