Houston's "Housing-First" Success in Reducing Homelessness

HOUSTON — The bright Texas sun bears down on the cracked cement landscape behind a gas station on the city’s outskirts. Here, an elaborate makeshift structure shields its resident, a lanky man called Slim, from the elements — it can get cold at night, he says.

Slim is an open book. Sitting in the shade at the front of his shelter, he tells a reporter how his life went downhill just over a decade ago after the death of his wife. He met someone new, started using heroin with her, and ended up on the street. He desperately wants a home.

His visitors this February day — members of the Homeless Outreach Team — hope to get him just that. Within an hour, intake forms are signed and Slim is one step closer to receiving a permanent residence.

To read more of this story first reported by the Winnipeg Free Press, click here.

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