[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 29 (Thursday, February 14, 2019)]
[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.