What are we doing to prevent and end homelessness in Dallas?

CitySquare has five programs aimed at preventing and ending homelessness in Dallas County.

Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) – CitySquare deploys a team of workers that walks and drives the streets in and around downtown Dallas’ central business district to locate and engage individuals who are homeless.  HOT workers get to know these individuals and their unique situations.  Individuals are diverted to the services of various CitySquare programs, as well as the services of other community partners.  Services include food assistance, housing, health care, and case management, including the arrangement and coordination of transportation to cities of origin for the purpose of reuniting with families.  In 2012, CitySquare’s HOT team recorded 2349 encounters with homeless individuals and was successful in connecting 726 individuals with resources for food, housing, health care, and/or transportation.

Rapid Rehousing – In 2013, CitySquare received federal grant funds through the city of Dallas to house 45 homeless individuals.  CitySquare provides support services, including case management which connects individuals to services within CitySquare, as well as to our partners in the larger community. CitySquare’s case management focuses on working with individuals to provide short-to-mid-term assistance while helping individuals towards greater self- sufficiency. The Rapid Rehousing team and the Homeless Outreach Team work together to place some of the most service-resistant individuals from the downtown Dallas area into stable housing.

Destination Home – Since 2004 CitySquare’s Destination Home program has housed over 2,000 individuals who were homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Through U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grants, Destination Home provides permanent support housing and case management services to an average of 200 individuals annually. These individuals receive counseling, drug and alcohol treatment, job support/training and a variety of other services designed to stabilize their lives and establish a pattern of healthier behaviors.

Transition Resource Action Center (TRAC) – TRAC provides a “one stop” assessment and referral facility for youth “aging out” of foster and juvenile care in the 19-county, Child Protective Services North Texas region.  TRAC brings together community resources and intensive case management services to benefit these special needs young people.  TRAC is the only program in North Texas that exists to comprehensively address the needs of this population which is at high risk of homelessness.  Annually, TRAC works with over 800 of the most challenged, at-risk teens and young adults in the region.  Participants craft an individualized life plan and acquire skills needed to survive on their own after”emancipation” from substitutionary care. TRAC provides transitional housing for many of the program’s most vulnerable youth.

CityWalk@Akard – CitySquare’s 15-story building in downtown Dallas is a unique and diverse vertical neighborhood housing over 200 low-income individuals, over half of whom were formerly homeless, or in grave danger of becoming homeless.   In addition, CityWalk provides much needed quality affordable housing for low-income wage earners who work Downtown. CitySquare Community Life Team provides counseling and case management services to a majority of the individuals and families who live at CityWalk.