A brutal winter storm and widespread power outages have increased demand for beds in the Houston area's homeless shelters, which were already at limited capacity due to the pandemic. | Stock photo
A brutal winter storm and widespread power outages have increased demand for beds in the Houston area's homeless shelters, which were already at limited capacity due to the pandemic. | Stock photo
Houston found itself in the middle of two crises this week: the COVID-19 pandemic and a brutal winter storm.
Homeless shelters were already at reduced capacity because of the coronavirus and suddenly were inundated by even more people seeking shelter.
“If these were normal times, our shelters would be able to take in additional people,” said Catherine Villarreal, spokeswoman for the Coalition for the Homeless. “Since we are in a global pandemic, they’ve had to reduce their density a little bit to have social distancing. So they weren’t able to take in a bunch more folks.”
Also, some people who were not normally homeless found themselves effectively in that condition when they lost power and water, Villarreal said. The city of Houston and Harris County helped fill the gap by establishing extra shelters and warming centers.
The largest shelter is at the George Brown Convention Center.
“They registered more than 800 people at the Brown Center,” Villarreal said. “While we know that there are people there who are literally homeless, the shelter was open to anyone. We also have people who sought refuge there who are not homeless, but they have lost heat in their homes or are unstably housed and need to find shelter.”
Across Texas, millions of people have lost power and need help, she said.
“We do really want people to understand that homelessness is a condition that can happen to anyone,” she said. “It’s not because people have made bad choices in their lives necessarily. Sometimes people are, unfortunately, failed by several layers of safety nets.”
In the days leading up to the storm, the Coalition for the Homeless sent extra outreach teams to make sure the homeless were in shelters. The Houston Police Department and Harris County Sheriff’s Office also made sure people were aware of the impending weather and were handing out coats and blankets, Villarreal said.
“Importantly, they were offering to arrange transportation to folks to the warming centers,” she said.
Churches and local businesses have also opened warming centers as well.
“As far as I am aware, no people have been turned away,” Villarreal said. “People have been moved around to different locations, but as far as I know, demand has not exceeded supply.”
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