The Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide leadership in the development, advocacy, and coordination of community strategies to prevent and end homelessness.

The Coalition was established in 1982, incorporated as a 501(c)3 in 1988, and has evolved to be the lead agency coordinating the community response to homelessness in Houston. Under the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act passed in 2009, an entire community, rather than individual service providers, must demonstrate success in preventing and reducing homelessness. in 2011, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) named Houston as a priority community. This designation recognizes the great need to transform Houston’s existing homeless service system and the tremendous opportunity to make significant advances due to the commitment of homeless service agencies and the contributions of key community stakeholders.

Although the Coalition does not provide any direct services to clients, it serves as the backbone organization to many other groups that do. The Coalition serves those who serve the homeless through research, project management, system capacity building, and public policy.

Today, the major project of the Coalition is serving as lead agency for the Houston/Harris County Continuum of Care (CoC). This work creates an improved homeless service system that more effectively provides services, support, and housing to all sub-populations within the Houston area’s homeless community, with a primary focus on moving individuals and families out of homelessness.

The ultimate goal of the Houston/Harris County CoC is a homeless service system that achieves reduction in new instance of, length of, and returns to homelessness, and meets the varying needs of homeless sub-populations such as unaccompanied youth, veterans, and families with children.