HOUSTON – Houston mayor John Whitmire says he’s planning to tackle a growing problem in the downtown area: Homelessness.
The mayor says a new initiative, which he plans to unveil next week, will be aimed at getting unhoused individuals off of the streets and connecting them with resources.
SEE ALSO: Resource guide for unhoused individuals in the Houston area
At this point, there are still a lot of unanswered questions, like where this housing facility will be and how many people it will help.
However, if you’ve been to the downtown area you may have seen some people sleeping on the street or under bridges. But the mayor’s vision is to get people off of the streets and instead help get them into temporary housing with the ultimate goal of getting them affordable housing or reuniting with family.
“The Supreme Court ruled recently that we can insist that people leave the streets,” Whitmire said. “Now, Houston does have an ordinance that you can sleep on the streets after 11 we’re going address that at city council and say you can no longer have a bed roll and just sleep on the streets of Houston.”
Mayor Whitmire told KPRC 2 that getting people off the streets doesn’t mean locking them up further overwhelming the criminal justice system, but instead transitioning them into a caring environment
As far as the team in charge of facilitating this: The Homeless Coalition, the Housing Authority and Homeland Security are all part of the team Whitmire says will help execute a plan that also includes case workers who can focus on mental health issues.
“You’ve got to have them in a location that you can interview them, provide for them; showers, port-o-cans, the Food Bank will feed them,” he said.
Mayor Whitmire says a more detailed plan will be rolled out next week. Right now, he says the City is working to secure a location for this initiative.
