300 people experiencing homelessness in Midland, new report shows
Editor's note: The video above first aired January 23, 2025, when Odessa Links conducted the Point-in-Time count for the city of Odessa. Jesus Gomez, with Odessa Links, shared in this interview why the count is important for every community to take.
MIDLAND, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- The Texas Homeless Network (THN) has released the findings of the 2025 Point-in-Time (PIT) Count, reporting that 300 individuals in Midland are currently experiencing homelessness.
This year's count includes:
89 children
157 adults
54 seniors
14 veterans
42 chronically homeless individuals
239 sheltered individuals
61 unsheltered individuals
Compared to 2024, the 2025 data shows notable shifts:
41 fewer people are experiencing homelessness overall
36 more individuals are staying in shelters
77 fewer individuals living unsheltered
While the decrease in unsheltered individuals may reflect improved access to shelters or stable housing, THN notes that other factors, such as relocation or changing local conditions, may also influence these trends.
Shining a light on homelessness: Odessa Links gathers crucial data to tackle growing crisis
The PIT Count is a nationwide effort required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In Texas, it is coordinated by the Texas Homeless Network. Locally, the Midland Homeless Coalition, along with volunteers and service providers, helped conduct the count by surveying individuals in both shelters and public spaces.
'The Midland Homeless Coalition remains committed to serving our community with transparency, integrity, and compassion,' the organization stated. 'By participating in the PIT Count, we ensure that real data informs local efforts to support those experiencing homelessness.'
The coalition also extended gratitude to the many volunteers who assisted in the effort, emphasizing that collaboration and continued community involvement are key to long-term solutions.
For more information on the PIT Count or how to get involved, community members are encouraged to contact the Texas Homeless Network or the Midland Homeless Coalition Facebook page.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Yahoo
300 people experiencing homelessness in Midland, new report shows
Editor's note: The video above first aired January 23, 2025, when Odessa Links conducted the Point-in-Time count for the city of Odessa. Jesus Gomez, with Odessa Links, shared in this interview why the count is important for every community to take. MIDLAND, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- The Texas Homeless Network (THN) has released the findings of the 2025 Point-in-Time (PIT) Count, reporting that 300 individuals in Midland are currently experiencing homelessness. This year's count includes: 89 children 157 adults 54 seniors 14 veterans 42 chronically homeless individuals 239 sheltered individuals 61 unsheltered individuals Compared to 2024, the 2025 data shows notable shifts: 41 fewer people are experiencing homelessness overall 36 more individuals are staying in shelters 77 fewer individuals living unsheltered While the decrease in unsheltered individuals may reflect improved access to shelters or stable housing, THN notes that other factors, such as relocation or changing local conditions, may also influence these trends. Shining a light on homelessness: Odessa Links gathers crucial data to tackle growing crisis The PIT Count is a nationwide effort required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In Texas, it is coordinated by the Texas Homeless Network. Locally, the Midland Homeless Coalition, along with volunteers and service providers, helped conduct the count by surveying individuals in both shelters and public spaces. 'The Midland Homeless Coalition remains committed to serving our community with transparency, integrity, and compassion,' the organization stated. 'By participating in the PIT Count, we ensure that real data informs local efforts to support those experiencing homelessness.' The coalition also extended gratitude to the many volunteers who assisted in the effort, emphasizing that collaboration and continued community involvement are key to long-term solutions. For more information on the PIT Count or how to get involved, community members are encouraged to contact the Texas Homeless Network or the Midland Homeless Coalition Facebook page. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Yahoo
Odessa Links releases Point in Time count
Mar. 10—Since last year, the number of homeless people in Odessa has increased, according to the annual Point in Time Count conducted by trained volunteers Jan. 23. Odessa Links, in association with the Texas Homeless Network, Odessa Homeless Coalition and volunteers from the community, conducted Odessa's 2025 Point-in-Time (PIT) Homeless Count. On Monday, they presented their findings at the City of Odessa Municipal Plaza. The volunteers conducted a count and survey of people in the community staying in emergency shelters, transitional housing, and unsheltered locations such as outdoor encampments, streets, cars, and other places not meant for habitation. The count provides a 24-hour "snapshot" for the number of people experiencing homelessness and the key characteristics of individuals and families, a news release detailed. The PIT Count results indicate the minimum number of people experiencing homelessness in the community on any given night. However, other forms of homelessness, such as temporarily staying with friends or having enough funds for a hotel or motel, are not included in the PIT Count, under United States Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines. As a result, the PIT Count data only represents a fraction of the homeless population in Odessa, the release stated. The count found that the total number of unsheltered people in Odessa was 212 compared to 135 in 2024. In 2023, it was 68 and in 2022, 60. Of the 212, 126 were sheltered homeless and 86 were unsheltered. The increased count was likely due to the frigid weather that came through the area during the count time period, Jesus Gomez, Odessa Homeless Coalition coordinator, said. Sheltered homelessness are people or families staying at the Salvation Army, Jesus House, Door of Hope or Crisis Center of West Texas, for example, and are receiving support or case management services. Unsheltered people are living in uninhabitable circumstances, like an abandoned building, or their car, and not having access to water and other services, Gomez said. Andrea Quiroz, executive director of Odessa Links, acknowledged key partners in the count. "The City of Odessa has partnered up with us this year, Community Development, code enforcers (and the) Odessa Police Department. We had officers go out to the encampments. The geointelligence, they helped out tremendously, because they actually mapped out those encampments that were given to us by the code enforcers and police department, which made it very simple and easy for our volunteers to know the actual location of where they were at," Quiroz said. She expressed appreciation to city leadership and Councilman Greg Connell who connected Odessa Links with the other city departments. "We couldn't have done this without our community organizations — our shelters, Jesus House, Crisis Center, Family Promise of Odessa, Door of Hope, and, of course, the Salvation Army of Odessa and several community volunteers," Quiroz said. She added that they collaborated this year with the Midland Homeless Coalition. The Texas Homeless Network also spoke to a city-wide Homeless Coalition meeting and has been working hard to make sure they don't have duplication or services or a duplicated count. "But most importantly, as I always say, those are just numbers. There's a person behind that number," Quiroz said. The PIT Count tells what the impact of homelessness is on the community. It also helps people understand what the needs are, how people are impacted and what can be done as a community help those that are impacted by homelessness. Before and after the PIT Count, they tried to prevent duplication by preparing bags with different kinds of snacks, survival guides, blankets, gloves and hand warmers, Gomez said. The bags and their colors were an identifier to the team so they knew by the bag or backpack that they had already been approached. The Salvation Army also used wrist bands for that purpose, Gomez said. Odessa Links also distributed bus passes for homeless people so they could have access to transportation. Connell said there were two groups — one that counted at shelters and one, that he went with, went to the tents. "It was a cold morning that morning, we were taking hot coffee and sandwich food, that type of thing to them. I slept in a warm, comfortable bed and these individuals, were out in a tent with a ground surface floor, with no heating. It's just amazing. But, homeless in general, people say that they're somewhere. Well, actually, they're here; they're all around us ... Every homeless situation affects me, but the the two that really affect me personally as a veteran would be our veterans that are out there. Second would be children that are involved. We just have to have a safety net for (these) individuals. "I've told a story one time, and I think it's very applicable that life, as we all can experience individually, is a juggling act. Those balls are car payments, rent, mortgage, health issues that come up. If too many of those balls drop at the same time ... we're homeless," Connell said. He added that this was depicted in the movie "No Address" where normal, everyday families found themselves homeless because too many balls dropped. "From the city aspect, we have some development people here that are doing some beautiful things with building homes for those that qualify for it. The city does what the city can, but we are mainly focused on medical services, police services and zoning and everything it takes to run a city. I'm really thankful for the Odessa Homeless Coalition that we have been putting together, because that is something that's workable, that we can do. That is a coalition of the nonprofits, the churches, organizations, all the resources and tools," Connell said. He added that he has visited the Door of Hope and Salvation Army shelters. "We do have ongoing shelters, and we do also have programs set to help people that are low income with groceries and food and things like that. We have a lot of things going, but this needs to be a continued push and an effort to strengthen that coalition, to bring those services where they're effective, for our homeless," Connell said. On March 12, Gomez, Connell and Oscar Romo, Odessa Links case manager, are going to Austin for Texas Capitol Day for Homelessness. "We will be before the legislators and state representatives. We will be talking to them about the impact (of homelessness) in our community, what the needs are in our community, how can we improve in that aspect (and) how they can support us. ... Following that meeting, we will have a scheduled steering committee (meeting). "The steering committee is the members that are part of the Odessa Homeless Coalition that helps us determine the direction of how and what we need to do to improve the homeless situation in Odessa," Gomez said. Gomez added that he wants to make legislators aware of what's going on in the community. "I think that, because we're a hub for oil, there's this thought process that nobody's suffering and everybody's raking in the cash. But that's not the reality. There are real people having real circumstances, dealing with real difficult issues. One of the families that we were able to assist was a gentleman, a single father with two kids. ... When they came into our program, (we were) able to connect them to training. ... From that training, they were able to escalate in their organization, the workforce, to the point where they didn't need our services anymore, so that was great. That's a success story. We do still do follow-ups accordingly, as Andrea mentioned, just to check in, making sure that they're continuing to exercise the principles that we teach them through case management," he added. Working at Odessa Links and the Homeless Coalition has given Gomez a different perspective on what homelessness is. "It's (given) me the perspective that ... some people are not addicts; they just had a rough situation. They went through divorce, medical issues, loss of a job, different things that sometimes don't prepare us for what comes in the next season," Gomez said. Odessa Point in Time count Total: 212 — Number of children (under age 18): 42 — Number of youth (18-24): 6 — Number of adults (25-34): 35 — Number of adults (35-44): 54 — Number of adults (45-54): 31 — Number of adults (55-64): 31 — Number of adults (age 65 or older): 13 — Observed age 25 or older: 0 — Unknown Age: 0 — Chronically Homeless: 24 — Veterans: 10
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Yahoo
Escaping homelessness is nearly impossible without systemic change
We are writing to express our deep concern about the persistent issue of homelessness in Ohio and across the United States. Despite our nation's wealth, we continue to fail our most vulnerable citizens. This failure reflects a lack of resources, compassion, and prioritization. Summit County, with an estimated population of 535,733 as of 2023, has seen a slight population decline since 2008. Housing insecurity has become a growing concern, with fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment rising 26% since 2018. Extreme housing cost burdens, which occur when households spend more than half of their monthly income on housing, highlight persistent affordability issues. Surprisingly, the current local zip code with the highest number of evictions is 44313, supplanting the 44306 zip code, according to a recent report shared in the local Eviction Task Force facilitated by the local Fair Housing Contact Service. The annual HUD Point-in-Time (PIT) Count, which was conducted Jan. 28, estimates the number of sheltered and unsheltered individuals experiencing homelessness on a single night. In Summit County this effort, mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and organized by the Summit County Continuum of Care, helps track trends, allocate federal funding and guide local strategies to address homelessness. While invaluable, the count's single-night methodology underscores the need for sustained attention and resources. The living conditions for many unsheltered individuals are unsafe and dehumanizing. Exposure to harsh weather, unsanitary environments and lack of access to basic needs like food and health care further exacerbate their struggles. Barriers such as unaffordable housing, limited mental health support, and insufficient job opportunities make escaping homelessness nearly impossible without systemic change. We must take a multifaceted approach to address this crisis by investing in affordable housing, expanding mental health and addiction services, and creating sustainable job opportunities. Preventative measures like rental assistance, landlord mitigation and prevention are also critical. Above all, we must foster a sense of community responsibility and empathy to reduce the stigma of homelessness. Homelessness is a societal failure, not an individual one. I urge community leaders and citizens to act with urgency and humanity to ensure everyone has access to safe and stable shelter. Let us not ignore those who need our help the most. Shana Miller is the interim executive director of the Summit County Continuum of Care and co-chair of the PIT Count. Leesa Bruback is the manager of central intake at United Way of Summit and Medina Counties and co-chair of the PIT Count. This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Solutions for homelessness include housing, mental health | Opinion
