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Houston Mayor John Whitmire hosts a press conference at a new facility at 419 Emancipation\u00a0Ave. intended to address the needs of Houston\u2019s unhoused population in October 2025. The city’s planned respite care center for people experiencing homelessness will operate separately at a different location.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elizabeth Conley\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Houston will receive a $12 million federal grant designed to reorient city homelessness efforts toward treatments for medical ailments and mental health or substance abuse challenges, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The grant, which will provide Houston\u2019s health department with $3 million annually over the next four years, will largely go toward a new center for respite care, bolstering medical treatments for people experiencing homelessness<\/a>, said city officials. One goal is to reduce the number of unhoused people cycling in and out of emergency rooms, which cost the city $42 million last year in unpaid ambulance bills, records show.<\/p>\n Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the award on Friday at Open Door, an addiction treatment center in downtown Houston. The city is one of eight participants in the new program, known as Safety Through Recovery, Engagement, and Evidence-based Treatment and Support (STREETS).<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cUnder President Trump, we will no longer accept a system that manages human suffering instead of ending it,\u201d Kennedy said in a press release. \u201cWe are helping people reclaim their health, rebuild their lives, and achieve the dignity, purpose, and independence that come with recovery.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The grant is part of the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to move towards \u201ctreatment first\u201d programs in combatting homelessness, as opposed to the longstanding \u201chousing first\u201d model that prioritizes subsiding permanent housing.\u00a0<\/p>\n READ MORE: Houston’s homelessness strategy faces a test. So far, the numbers are holding.<\/a><\/p>\n Mayor John Whitmire applauded the award, saying in a statement that it would bolster his administration\u2019s \u201cholistic approach\u201d to homelessness.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Houston is still working on a potential location and partner organizations for the respite center, said Theresa Tran, the city\u2019s health director. It will be separate from the Whitmire administration\u2019s new navigation center at 419 Emancipation<\/a>, an around-the-clock facility that is available to unhoused people who are not sick.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cRecovery, and readiness for self-sustainability doesn’t happen overnight,\u201d said Tran. \u201cThe idea is that they will graduate fully from the services with a much much lower chance of relapse.\u201d<\/p>\n The new space will fill a gap in the city\u2019s homelessness strategy, serving people who are too fragile to recover on their own but not sick enough to qualify for hospital-level care. Open Door and other nonprofits offer some of these services, but the new facility would be the first in Houston fully dedicated to respite care.<\/p>\n Those eligible for treatment would have been discharged from hospitals within the last 30 days but are still experiencing health issues. In some cases, patients could be referred directly to the program from hospitals. The typical stay in respite care lasts 30 to 45 days.<\/p>\n