The Housing and Community Development Department (HCD) recommends Council approval of an Ordinance authorizing a First Amendment to the Subrecipient Agreement between the City of Houston (City) and Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston (Catholic Charities), providing up to an additional $264,705.00 of Emergency Solutions Grants and Community Development Block Grant funds for the continuation of services.
Catholic Charities will provide rapid rehousing and homelessness prevention services to 80 households at-risk of or experiencing homelessness. Services include tenant-based rental assistance and utility payments to prevent eviction or termination of services; assistance obtaining permanent housing; and case management to assist in obtaining services and benefits.
Catholic Charities was initially selected by Child Care Council, Inc. (CCC), HCD’s administrator of the City’s Homeless Services Program (HSP), as a service provider. CCC’s Agreement to operate as the HSP administrator was not renewed and expired as of March 31, 2024. To avoid a gap in homeless response system services, HCD selected Catholic Charities from the existing HSP providers to continue operations. The initial Agreement was from April 1, 2024 – March 31, 2025, and included the option to renew for up to an additional one-year period at the City’s discretion. The First Amendment will provide funding through March 31, 2026.
As of October 31, 2024, Catholic Charities has expended 56% of their funding and served 52.50% of their Homeless Prevention client goal and 49.89% of the rapid rehousing client goal. During 2024, the rapid rehousing referrals were paused for approximately six months due to lack of rental assistance subsidies through the Houston Housing Authority (HHA). However, effective Feb 1, 2025, the Coalition for the Homeless (CFTH) will be taking over the rental assistance subsidy payments through the Continuum of Care (CoC) funding. The change will allow Catholic Charities to meet the rapid rehousing goals during the extended term of the Agreement.
Catholic Charities has provided services to the City since 2003. There were no findings in the agency’s most recent compliance monitoring.
Fiscal Note:
No Fiscal Note is required on grant items.
This item was reviewed by the Quality of Life Committee on February 3, 2025.
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Michael Nichols, Director