Texas Homeless Network's 2020 Annual Report

THN and our partners across the state faced some of the biggest challenges in recent history this past year. From destructive hurricanes to a devastating pandemic to racial justice movements that pushed community conversations toward a more equitable future, we have seen the amount of resilience, perseverance, and drive of the people of this country and our great state. 

While we are so proud of what we’ve accomplished this year, there is still much work ahead. For example, THN recognizes our gaps in racial justice work over the years and are determined to do better moving forward. In addition, we know that the work we do moving forward must continue to be intersectional to truly create long-term solutions for ending homelessness in Texas. As an agency, we must continue to build a better future for our neighbors experiencing homelessness. We commit to strategically doing so in all aspects of our work in the following ways:

Advocacy: In 2021 we are launching an Advocacy Academy for people with lived experience of homelessness or housing insecurity, supporting intersectional legislation in the upcoming session, and fighting against discriminatory bills. We will continually monitor federal policies including things such as Equal Access for our LGBTQ unhoused neighbors and the Fair Housing Act. We will also launch a cross-sector coalition with agencies and organizations around the state to explore ways in which our work can strengthen through ongoing partnerships.

Balance of State: In the next year, we are creating new standards for projects across the state that will advance our racial justice work. THN seeks to enhance system planning for the TX BoS CoC with a focus on diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), and justice. The activities for the upcoming year will focus primarily on addressing racial and ethnic disparities in experiences and outcomes for people in homeless situations who participate in homeless services in the TX BoS CoC.

The goals of this work will be:

• • • • To promote a shared responsibility for different aspects of the planning process;
      • To increase the CoC’s ability to address disparities that exist in the Coordinated Entry process;
      • To coordinate with a more diverse group of stakeholders, including people with lived experience;
      • To improve the monitoring and evaluation process and to promote more inclusive policy development.

Currently, we are contracting with Homebase for an independent review of a gaps analysis survey for the Balance of State to curate better and more responsive services for the 215 counties we serve.

Internal agency work: We are currently creating structured conversations on racial justice and equity work in our agency. Agencywide conversations will be facilitated through no less than three structured, topic-based discussions internal to THN with the goal of creating a common language and a shared understanding of critical concepts, such as race-equity and the role of THN in promoting anti-racist work. We are also intentionally building policies for the inclusive and equitable hiring of staff, contracting with external entities, and recruiting for our boards and committees.