North Texas nonprofit expands help for foster youth facing homelessness
A North Texas nonprofit hopes a new grant will help it alleviate the homelessness experienced by one-third of the young people who age out of foster care.
The Transition Resource Action Center received a $161,000 grant in April from the city of Fort Worth’s Homeless Housing and Services Program, administered by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.
In Texas, 33% of youth who age out of foster care experience homelessness by the time they’re 21, according to a January 2025 study from the Texas Institute for Child & Family Wellbeing at the University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work. The reasons include drug abuse, mental health issues, placement instability and involvement with the criminal justice system.
The grant should help the nonprofit provide more support case managment, street outreach and transitional living services to at least eight people 18 to 24 for the 2027 fiscal year.
The Transition Resource Action Center provides services for youth transitioning out of foster care and experiencing homelessness in 19 North Texas counties.
“I think that’s really what sets TRAC apart, because we will show up, meet youth where they are, be accountable, and help them down whatever pathway they choose to go down,” said Tarra Chisholm, housing program manager for Transition Resource Action Center.
Participants are assigned a case manager or coach who provides an individualized service plan based on the youths’ goals. This could mean completing a GED, pursuing college, or finding employment.
Other services include crisis intervention, and mental and physical health services. Youths can visit centers in Fort Worth or Dallas to relax, complete school work or search for jobs.
The organization has 40 to 50 beds in Tarrant County, which could be used for transitional or permanent supportive housing. The center is raising money to renovate a building to add 15 beds.
In a separate fund, the city provides a grant to the organization for a youth designated outreach worker. Last year, the outreach worker’s contract was approved to serve up to 120 people, but by the third quarter, the worker had already served more than 130, underscoring the funding needed to help youths in Tarrant County, according to Chisholm.
Tameika McLaurin, director of housing for Transition Resource Action Center, says workers take into account the physical and mental health effects of trauma to build relationships and trust with young adults, since many have faced hardships.
“Everything that they’ve been through before they came through those doors and what looks like resistance to us is really just them responding to the trauma that they’ve been through, being homeless, but being in foster care,” McLaurin said. “So with our staff taking the trauma-informed approach, a lot of times that opens that relationship up.”
