METRO Board Approves Plan For Downtown Homeless Shelter

HOUSTON, TX — The Houston METRO board of directors is moving forward with a plan to create a temporary homeless shelter downtown.

The board of directors voted to approve the plan during Thursday’s meeting of the board.

On Monday, the city of Houston announced a partnership with METRO to create the homeless shelters as a way of providing a safe area for the homeless, as well as an area where services could be obtained.

READ: City, METRO Considering Options For Homeless Encampments

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has taken a number of steps to deal with the issue of homeless in downtown, including cleaning and sanitizing homeless camps beneath the Interstate 69 underpass the downtown Museum District in November, and unveiling a public awareness program in May to address panhandling.

In April, Turner attempted to institute a ban on the downtown homeless camps, until the American Civil Liberties Union challenged the ruling and filed a lawsuit and had the ban lifted in August, when a federal judge ruled the ban violated the eighth amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Turner has argued that the camps, which are growing in population, can be dangerous to those living in the camps as well as the general public, citing reports of two murders within the camps, KTRK reported.

Since 2012, more than 11,000 homeless individuals in Houston have been permanently housed, resulting in a 60 percent decrease in overall homelessness.
About 3,400 homeless individuals are homeless on any given night in greater Houston area, with nearly 70 percent living in area shelters.

Image: Dozens of homeless people live beneath an overpass for Interstate 59 in downtown Houston. (AP Photo/Matt Sedensky).

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