Addressing one of the most critical crises in Comal County and the nation, NB Housing Partners is excited to invite the public to an exclusive screening of excerpts from the documentary Americans With No Address at the Brauntex Theatre on Tuesday, March 11 at 6:00 pm.

To reserve your free seat, please click here.

Americans With No Address is a powerful documentary that delves into the reality of homelessness in the United States. Produced by Robert Craig Films, the same team behind the feature film No Address, this documentary aims to offer a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by those without stable housing. It takes viewers on a journey across the country, highlighting untold stories of those living without a permanent address while exploring potential solutions to the pressing issue.

Over the three-week journey spanning 20 cities, the documentary team interviewed over 175 individuals, including those experiencing homelessness, community members, government officials, and law enforcement. Through these diverse perspectives, the film seeks to answer critical questions: Why is homelessness happening? What are different cities doing about it? What is working and what is not?

“This film offers the public a unique opportunity to gain insight into the lives of individuals facing homelessness. It showcases effective strategies for addressing this issue, highlights local collaborative efforts, and raises awareness about this growing problem,” said Kellie Stallings, Executive Director of NB Housing Partners. “We have worked diligently to develop and maintain strong partnerships with community resources to combat housing insecurity and homelessness in our area. So, we are excited to offer this event to the public to shed light on not only the crisis and our efforts but also what steps we can take to address it further.”

Locally, NB Housing Partners’ First Footing program is at the forefront of combating the effects of chronic homelessness in our community. The root factors of homelessness are both community-related and individually-focused. Our community has addressed homelessness for over 20 years as collaborative partners, yet more work is needed.

Recent data from the annual Point in Time count, which surveys those experiencing homelessness, revealed an alarming trend that underscores the need for comprehensive and sustained efforts. Between 2023 and 2024, Comal County witnessed a 64% increase in homelessness and a tripling of unsheltered individuals.

With their 42-bed shelter continuously at capacity and with a waitlist as many as 99 people in 2024, NB Housing Partners hopes this free screening and discussion of Americans With No Address will raise awareness, foster empathy, and inspire action throughout the greater New Braunfels area.

During the event, there will be a community discussion between film excerpts to delve deeper into the challenges of life without a physical address, discuss local impacts, and explore potential solutions.

Guest speakers will include representatives from Hill Country MHDD, Acacia Medical Mission, Crisis Center of Comal County, law enforcement, Connections Individual and Family Services, the church community, and Salvation Army of New Braunfels

Please join us at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, March 11 at the Brauntex Theatre. Together, we will explore the reality of homelessness through hope, resilience, and humanity. To reserve your free seat, visit the Brauntex Theatre website.

Click here if you would like to donate in-kind items to support NB Housing Partners’ First Footing Shelter.

To learn more about Americans With No Address, visit www.americanswithnoaddress.com.

NB Housing Partners advocates for and provides supportive housing in the New Braunfels area for people experiencing housing instability. The organization acts as a catalyst to create sustainable solutions across the affordable housing spectrum. NB Housing Partners requests the submission of qualifications statements, which will lead to the possible award of a contract to provide professional design services for a project involving the 1465 Churchill Project as a multifamily or dense single family development. 

Download PDF here.

Scope of Work:

The services to be obtained for the design professional require: Planning, coordination, design and construction administration for the project at 1465 Churchill Drive. 

Guidelines for Content of Qualification Statements: 

Detailed instructions on preparation of the qualification statement must be obtained from the agency. For more information on preparing and submitting the qualification statement, contact Kellie Stallings, Executive Director, at kellie@nbhousingpartners.org. This information should be requested as soon as possible in order to allow time to prepare the document and comply with the procedures. 

Submittal Deadline: 

Three copies and one PDF copy on flashdrive of the qualifications statement must be filed with the agency by: July 5, 2024 at 2:00 PM. Late submittals and electronic submittals will not be accepted. 

Minimum Qualifications and Selection Criteria: 

The Agency will evaluate the proposals to determine which firm has the best qualifications and offers the best value to complete our project. 

Contract Terms and Negotiation Schedule: 

The consultant is expected to negotiate an agreement for services that is acceptable to the Agency. If an acceptable contract cannot be negotiated, the District may formally end negotiations and begin negotiating with the next highest qualified person or firm. RFQ’s are issued in accordance with Section 2254 of the Texas Government Code (Professional Services Act). 

NB Housing Partners is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, handicap or national origin. Small, minority, and women-owned business enterprises are encouraged to submit proposals.

Download PDF here.

A former New Braunfels fire station has been revitalized with the purpose of serving those experiencing homelessness.

Read more here.

Homelessness in Texas on the rise amid high housing costs, federal estimates show

“Homelessness in Texas on the rise amid high housing costs, federal estimates show” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

For 24/7 mental health support in English or Spanish, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s free help line at 800-662-4357. You can also reach a trained crisis counselor through the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

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The number of Texans experiencing homelessness is back at pre-pandemic levels, federal data shows.

Homelessness in Texas grew by more than 12% in 2023, in line with national trends, according to estimates released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development last month. More than 27,000 Texans did not have a permanent roof over their heads when advocates and volunteers across the country walked Texas streets on a night last January to conduct the Point-in-Time Count annual estimate of people experiencing homelessness. About 43% of those — or some 11,700 people — lived on the streets.

Low-income households in Texas now face significantly higher rents than they did prior to the pandemic — and no longer have the pandemic-era safety net afforded by federal rent relief funds and pauses on evictions that aimed to prevent landlords from ousting tenants who couldn’t make rent. Those factors have contributed to an overall increase in homelessness, homeless experts and advocates say.

“We’re in a huge affordability crisis,” said Eric Samuels, president and CEO of Texas Homeless Network. “There’s a lot of people out there at risk of homelessness. And if they fall into homelessness, we have a lot fewer units to help them escape homelessness.”

Homelessness rose in nearly every demographic group measured by the Point-in-Time Count estimate. The number of unhoused veterans and families with children grew in 2023 by 19% and 4.9% respectively. More Black and Hispanic people experienced homelessness than in the previous year.

Experts and advocates noted some bright spots.

Efforts in major Texas cities aimed at quickly getting people experiencing homelessness into new housing and connecting them with support services helped reduce chronic homelessness, which fell year-over-year by about 9%, estimates show. Someone experiences chronic homelessness when they have been unhoused for at least a year or multiple times “while struggling with a disabling condition such as a serious mental illness, substance use disorder, or physical disability,” according to The National Alliance to End Homelessness.

Meanwhile, the state’s overall population of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness — meaning they slept in outdoor spaces like encampments or other places people aren’t meant to live — grew by 6.5%, but fell in places like Dallas and Houston.

The Dallas region saw double-digit decreases in the numbers of people experiencing unsheltered and chronic homelessness last year, which local advocates attribute to a $72 million initiative launched in 2021 to rehouse people and families experiencing homelessness.

The push, dubbed the R.E.A.L. Time Rehousing Initiative and fueled in part by federal pandemic relief funds, relies on close collaboration between dozens of nonprofits who work in homelessness response and a network of landlords willing to give the unhoused a roof over their heads, said Sarah Kahn, CEO of Housing Forward, the lead agency in charge of tackling homelessness in Dallas and Collin counties. When city crews clear homeless encampments, outreach workers offer to connect people with housing and services, she said.

That approach has worked, Kahn said. In October, the initiative reached a goal of placing 2,700 people experiencing homelessness into new housing — and aims to house 6,000 by the end of 2025.

“It’s just important to remember that this work is hard,” Kahn said. “I know it feels slow to a lot of the public and a lot of people are wondering why we’re not making more progress than we are. I think the most important thing to remember is we have a proof point of what works and we have to keep investing and scaling those proven solutions if we want to see those numbers continue to go in the right direction.”

In Houston, federal pandemic relief funds supercharged yearslong efforts to reduce the region’s homeless population by placing those experiencing homelessness into apartments before providing them with support services — efforts Dallas officials took inspiration from when crafting its strategy to address homelessness. The region’s Community COVID Housing Program, buoyed by federal relief dollars, has housed or diverted from homelessness nearly 17,000 people since it launched in October 2020, according to Houston’s Coalition for the Homeless. Last year, the region’s population of people experiencing unsheltered and chronic homelessness fell by 17.3% and 3.7%, respectively.

But federal funds that paid for the program are set to expire by the end of the year, said Ana Rausch, vice president of program operations for the Coalition for the Homeless, leaving policymakers and those who work in homelessness response to figure out how to fund at least some aspects of the program after that money runs out.

“We have to continue to invest in housing if we want to continue to see a downward trend in our homeless numbers,” Rausch said.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/11/texas-homelessness-estimate/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

January 16, 2024: The public is invited to assist the Comal County Homeless Coalition and Texas Homeless Network later this month as the organizations prepare for the annual “Point-in-Time” count, which aims to provide a snapshot of individuals and families experiencing homelessness in Comal County over one day.

Every year, local agencies and organizations conduct a Point-in-Time (PIT) count to determine the extent of homelessness in the community. The survey is conducted throughout the state and the country.

The Coalition hopes to help the community better understand the needs and resources available to unhoused neighbors. Two-person teams of trained volunteers will conduct surveys of people experiencing homelessness in selected areas over one 24-hour period.

Survey participants will receive a compassion bag containing much-needed food, hygiene and safety items provided by the Seeds of Love non-profit organization. The Coalition is seeking donations of items for the compassion bags.

“Community support and awareness for this project are so important, not only in terms of community engagement but also to create awareness and understanding about this very vulnerable population in our area,” said Bethany Benson from Gruene United Methodist Church and a member of the PIT Count Committee.

The count helps non-profit agencies and organizations understand how homelessness changes over time across numerous variables such as economic conditions, societal factors and policy advancement. It also allows organizations to spread awareness, engage and build relationships with unhoused neighbors.

To donate items to be included in the compassion bags, contact Benson at bethany@grueneumc.org or visit https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080E4CACA62CA64-46113202-homeless#/

To learn more about the count, visit www.thn.org/texas-balance-state-continuum-care/data/pit-count-and-hic.

December 28, 2023: NB Housing Partners’ First Footing program is near completion of a years-long journey to provide a permanent community space to serve New Braunfels residents experiencing homelessness.

The organization hosted a recent open house to let guests get a first look at the new facility, a renovated former fire station at Loop 337 in New Braunfels that will act as a crisis housing and outreach center containing a comprehensive intake process connecting individuals to community resources and housing opportunities.

Officials with NB Housing Partners said the 1970s-era building requires some installations, such as a fire suppression system, before participants can occupy the facility. Still, they remain hopeful for a January move-in date.

“Anytime there is a change, even if it’s something that you are looking forward to, it still has its own unexpected things and adjustments,” said Kellie Stallings, executive director of NB Housing Partners. “Our team and our participants know that and are starting to plan ahead for that. We’ve been asking participants what they want to see and what they think are reasonable expectations for participants who seek help on their journey toward housing. They’ve been giving us some good ideas of things they think they should be responsible for and ways we can help them more effectively.”

In early 2023, NB Housing Partners entered a 25-year agreement with the City of New Braunfels to lease the former fire station. The site will provide case management, basic needs, meals, medical care, behavioral healthcare, budgeting, employment/job assistance, benefit application assistance, housing navigation and planning, and congregate crisis housing (shelter).

First Footing staffers develop a housing plan with each participant. Housing navigation and housing startup costs are provided in partnership with the Crisis Center of Comal County. Hill Country Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Centers will offer mental health services, counseling and life skills assistance.

Since its establishment in February 2021, the First Footing program has been leasing local motel space to provide services to community members at risk for or experiencing homelessness. The program serves an average of about 30 individuals daily. The demand increases to nearly 50 individuals on cold weather nights.

The Salvation Army of New Braunfels will provide meals at the new facility with additional support from New Braunfels Church of Christ, Elks Lodge, New Braunfels Food Bank, SOS Food Bank and Peace Lutheran Church.

The facility’s medical exam room will be utilized for wellness checkups and healthcare visits. The goals are to improve preventive healthcare, address medical needs that accompany prolonged exposure to weather elements, detect and address acute or chronic health issues and reduce the overuse of emergency healthcare services.

Healthcare is provided weekly through Acadia Medical Mission, with offsite appointments offered through Volunteers in Medicine, America’s Best Eyecare and local dentistry practices.

The congregate sleeping space will provide rest for about 40 individuals at a time, with more served to preserve life safety when the outdoor temperature drops to 45 degrees or below.

An onsite skilled daytime and overnight team is alert and ready to provide a listening ear and offer suggestions to improve sleep for participants as needed.

The team also welcomes those returning from work. Participants show proof of their work times before entering the building after 10 p.m.

The facility also includes a bathroom/shower area, a television and computer room and a laundry room.

Although NB Housing Partners has established partnerships with nonprofits, businesses, faith leaders and housing developers, the organization also needs the public’s help.

The program urgently seeks donations of personal care items, such as brushes and combs, sleep masks, shower scrunchies, bath towels, deodorant and shower shoes.

Food items, such as coffee, dry cereal, and snack items, are welcome, as well as cleaning and household supplies, toilet paper, and transportation items, such as adult skateboards, adult bicycles, and ride-sharing gift cards.

Program participants also welcome H-E-B, McDonald’s, Walmart and Walgreens gift cards. For a complete list, click here.

Donors can leave items at the McKenna Events Center at 801 W. San Antonio St.

Tax-deductible donations can be made to NB Housing Partners and mailed or dropped off at 801 W. San Antonio Street, New Braunfels, TX 78130. Individuals can volunteer for the program through the Serve Spot website at servespot.org. For additional information regarding donations or the program, email admin@nbhousingpartners.org or call 830-272-5020 ext 6.