Homelessness surge among families in Fort Worth prompts urgent search for shelters
The number of homeless families in Fort Worth has nearly doubled since the spring, leaving shelters at capacity and some families without safe places to sleep, city leaders said.
“All of our emergency shelters are at capacity for families,” said Lauren King, the executive director of the Tarrant County Homeless Coalition.
Throughout summer, there was an average of 162 households — defined as at least one adult and one child — without permanent shelter at any given time, according to data from the Tarrant County Homeless Coalition.
And in August, there were 340 children — equivalent to 20 kindergarten classrooms — in Fort Worth shelters, Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker said. Half of those children were under 5.
Although individuals still make up the majority of the homeless population in Tarrant and Parker counties, the number of homeless families has been growing more quickly in the last year, King said.
The situation has become so dire so fast that leaders are planning to purchase a building and convert it into an emergency shelter, Parker said Tuesday.
“We hope we can purchase a property that’s easily convertible over a short period of time … and create a transitional shelter opportunity for families that is safe and welcoming and feels as close to home as possible,” Parker said.
The city is working with the homeless coalition, Tarrant County, nearby cities and other nonprofits and agencies to address the crisis. Any one of those partners might ultimately purchase and operate a new emergency shelter, Parker said.
The two main emergency shelters for families — Salvation Army and the Presbyterian Night Shelter — are at capacity and have had to start turning away families for the first time. The Salvation Army has stretched its capacity by bringing cots into its gym, and Presbyterian Night Shelter has asked families to share rooms, according to a briefing prepared for City Council members. But these extra steps still have not been enough to house all of the families who need help.
All Texas cities are seeing jumps in the number of homeless people, King said, with one exception: Houston. So far this year, more families experienced homelessness in Fort Worth than in Houston. An estimated 365 families in Fort Worth have experienced homelessness this year, compared to 277 in Houston, King said.
Increasing rents in Fort Worth rental market
The number of homeless families, which averaged between 120 and 140 households in 2019 and during the first half of 2020, dropped in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks in part to a temporary federal eviction moratorium, federal stimulus money, and rental assistance distributed to families throughout the county.
But now, with the eviction moratorium over and no more rent relief money available, families making low wages are facing surging rental costs and limited apartment availability. The cost of housing has increased nationwide but is particularly acute in Dallas-Fort Worth. In the Metroplex, average rent increased 18.8% last year, according to ApartmentData.com.
As demand for housing has increased in recent years, property owners have been able to charge more for rent, leaving fewer empty rental units and higher rent costs, said Adam Perdue, a research economist Texas Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.
“In a stable market, there’s a certain amount of apartments for people to be able to move into,” Perdue said. “When vacancy is falling, that’s the sign to start expecting increasing rental rates.”
The plan to address the crisis
In addition to a possible new emergency shelter, local governments and nonprofits are looking at other steps to stop more families from losing their homes and to rehouse the families who are already without them.
Tarrant County is seeking proposals to spend $32.5 million in federal funds on affordable housing projects. The money could pay for at least 254 new affordable housing units, according to county estimates.
This story was originally published October 18, 2022 at 4:32 PM.
