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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E184-E185]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HOMELESSNESS AND HOUSING INSECURITY
______
HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE
of texas
in the house of representatives
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, today I rise to join my colleagues in
discussing the disparaging effects of homelessness and housing
insecurity in our communities.
In 2018, communities across the country faced a continuing housing
affordability crisis that left thousands of Americans homeless and
without any stable place to live.
For the second year in a row, the number of people experiencing
homelessness in the United States increased.
In 2018, 552,830 people lived in emergency shelters, transitional
housing, or were not sheltered at all.
This is nearly 2,000 more people than in 2017.
This is an ongoing problem that demands our immediate attention.
The state of Texas claims just under 9 percent of the population of
the United States.
Sadly, 23,548 people are homeless in Texas.
This is 4 percent of the country's entire homeless population.
More than 10,000 men and women can be found on the streets of
Houston, homeless, on any given night.
Of these, 3,000 are considered chronically homeless.
Those who are categorized as chronically homeless are people who have
been continuously homeless for a year or more or those who have been
homeless four or more times in the past three years.
Many of the chronically homeless suffer from a mental illness and/or
a substance abuse problem.
[[Page E185]]
Percy Lyons is one of these people whose home does not come with an
address.
Mr. Lyons has made his home under a bridge.
He has all the comforts of home: a military cot, tucked behind a
cement barrier, for a bed; a propane stove, hidden in a drainpipe, for
cooking and heat; and hollow cement blocks function as shelves to hold
his few articles of clothing and an extra pair of shoes.
Mr. Lyons is just one of those 3,000 people who are surviving on the
streets of Houston.
Thankfully, Houston Police Department (HPD) is trying to help meet
the needs of the city's homeless population.
HPD has created the Homeless Outreach Team.
This team is staffed with four officers, who instead of responding to
complaints or ordinance violations, work on building relationships with
those who live on the streets.
These heroes work with Houston's homeless residents to navigate the
social services available and have helped hundreds of people move off
the streets and into permanent housing.
These officers can discuss success stories, like that of Randall.
Randall spent over 30 years living on the streets.
The Homeless Outreach Team was able to help Randall get into a
treatment program.
Unfortunately, there are not more stories like Randall.
Instead, the majority of those who are chronically homeless slip
through the cracks, unable to find their way through the complex system
of social services.
Each night in the United States of America an estimated 553,000 men,
women, and children spend the night on the streets.
This is a national emergency.
