HOUSTON – Houston’s largest homeless encampment has been decommissioned as the city looks to transition people living on the streets to permanent housing.
On Monday, KPRC 2 got a first look at the new Fifth ward facility where dozens of unsheltered people packed up their tents to move in temporarily.
The city of Houston shut down the homeless encampment on Chartres Street near I59, more commonly known as Tent City, which had been an eyesore for area businesses for years.
Ricardo Manriquez and more than 40 others agreed to leave the encampment and temporarily stay at the Navigation Center located on Jensen Drive until the center can help them transition into permanent housing.
“I told everybody this is as close as we feel to normalcy from being homeless. There are very few rules here as long as you respect the property,” he said.
Manriquez said he and his partner had been kicked out of homeless shelters because they are a same-sex couple. He said it resulted in them living in a tent near Minute Maid Park for the last year and a half.
Manriquez and his husband have been living at the Navigation Center since it opened last week and he said having access to resources has been a blessing.
“Everything that we’ve been trying to do out there for services to get housing, IDs, if you need help with food stamps, these guys speed it up for you,” Manriquez said. “What’s taken months up until a year out there haven’t even gotten it done, we’re halfway done now.”
Mayor Sylvester Turner and members of his homeless initiative say the Navigation Center is not a shelter, nor is it a home. They said it’s a transitional step to permanent housing that helps supports the individual’s needs, whether with mental health services, substance abuse, employment, healthcare, etc...
The Housing Navigation Center will be a game-changing tool when it comes to reducing homelessness in our city. The success of this facility is not how many people we get in, but how many people we get out and into a housing unit of their own. pic.twitter.com/KmCYp1c1pm
— Houston Mayor's Office (@houmayor) February 13, 2023
Mayor Turner said the city has been able to reduce homelessness by 63% percent since 2012 with fewer than 3,000 people experiencing homelessness. He said the city has been a model for other cities, some of which have even toured the new center.
“Having the lowest per capita homeless population in the country is not enough when we still have brothers and sisters in our streets, families living in cars, encampments under our freeways,” said Mayor Turner.
Since opening last week, the center has already found permanent housing for one individual who happens to be from Fifth Ward. Within 60 days of stepping in the door, the goal is to help the residents transition into permanent housing. The center is co-ed but does not accept children or walk-ins. There are 100 beds, a laundry room and an outdoor area at the facility for the residents to use.
The Coalition for the Homeless is leasing the property for the center. Harmony House is running the center, and Harris Health is providing on-site mental health assistance.
Mayor Turner said Tent City should be gone for good thanks to the new Navigation Center.
“Where we can fence off, we will be fencing off,” he said. “So, in some of those areas, for example, you will see fencing coming. In the meantime, HPD and others will be saying no, these areas are not available.”