Houston Health Department and Partners Receive $12 million STREETS Grant to Support Forthcoming Respite, Recovery and Transitional Housing Center
The Houston Health Department (HHD), in partnership with local healthcare services and community organizations, has been awarded $3 million per year for four years from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to support the development and implementation of the Houston Health Respite, Recovery, and Transitional Housing (HHRRTH) Center, a community-based initiative designed to help Houstonians experiencing concomitant homelessness, medical illness, and serious mental illness (SMI) or substance use disorder move toward recovery, stability, and self-sufficiency.
The forthcoming center will provide a coordinated approach to responding to the complex needs of individuals experiencing homelessness, particularly those who have recently been discharged from local hospitals with medical illness, SMI, substance use disorder (SUD), or co-occurring disorders (COD).
“This federal funding allows us to rethink the way our local healthcare, mental health, homeless response, and supportive services systems operate together to truly change the trajectory of people’s lives,” said Dr. Theresa Tran, Director of the Houston Health Department and Local Health Authority. “The Houston Health Respite, Recovery, and Transitional Housing Center will bring critical services together in one place to provide patients who are ready to recover the most efficient and effective start to building a stable future for themselves. Medical respite has long existed as a gap that too many of our most vulnerable residents have fallen through. We are proud to bring this service to Houston and grateful for the partnerships and investments that will make it possible.”
The HHRRTH (pronounced “hearth”) Center will bring healthcare, behavioral health, housing, and community-based services together under a public health model designed to connect individuals with the care and resources they need to move from crisis toward stability.
“As mayor, I welcome the funding Houston will receive over the next four years through the STREETS program. This important funding will help the City’s Health and Housing Departments continue to work to help our homeless community using a holistic approach. Delivering stability to the unhoused population we work with is the top goal in the work method my administration is implementing,” said Houston Mayor John Whitmire.
An advisory group including individuals with lived experience will guide program design, data-driven strategies, service integration, stakeholder engagement, and ongoing performance monitoring. This joint structure will help ensure services are coordinated and responsive to the needs of the people the program is designed to serve.
A key component of HHRRTH will be lived-experience community health workers (CHWs) who will help build trust and engagement while supporting treatment continuity and recovery. Their firsthand understanding of the challenges people experiencing homelessness face will help strengthen connections between participants and the systems designed to support them.
HHD will leverage its strong network of local organizations representing healthcare, mental health, housing, workforce development, law enforcement, faith-based organizations, aging services, reentry programs, academic institutions, and community organizations. Twenty-seven partners endorsed HHD’s grant application, available only to political subdivisions of the federal government. The Harris Center will serve as the program’s clinical behavioral health lead, providing assessments, housing navigation, and coordinated entry across systems of care. Harris Health System and Healthcare for the Homeless – Houston will serve as the program’s medical respite providers. Open Door Houston will serve as the program’s educational and job readiness lead. The UTHealth Houston School of Public Health will serve as the program’s external evaluator.
The HHRRTH Center demonstrates a broader public health approach to homelessness, recognizing that housing stability is closely connected to physical health, behavioral health, long-term recovery, and access to supportive services.
