I want to welcome everybody to uh this month's Quality of Life Committee meeting.

We will be joined, I understand, uh virtually by our vice chair of the committee, Vice Mayor Pro Tem, Councilmember Amy Peck.

We're joined in the chambers.

Well, as well by we're joined in person uh by council member Willie Davis.

We have representatives from the staff of Councilmember Tiffany Thomas, Councilmember Mary Nan Huffman, Councilmember Mario Castillo, Councilmember, Mayor Pro Tem, Martha Castex Tatum, Councilmember Twila Carter, Councilmember Alejandra Salinas, Councilmember Sally Alcorn, and we also have staff from my office uh working to produce this meeting and staff from uh council member Peck's office as well.

So we have a few items on the agenda this afternoon.

We're pleased to have with us our director of our housing and community development department, uh Mike Nichols, along with um assistant director Melody Barr and some representatives of Harris Health as well.

So, without further ado, we'll go ahead and get started uh with the agenda by hearing from a director um Nichols and assistant director Barr.

Y'all can take it away, start off with Melody Barr's presentation about upcoming ordinances that are coming through council and that are important for this committee to hear.

Good afternoon.

For item 2A, the department is presenting before this committee a recommendation for council approval and ordinance that operate that authorizes a contract between the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, commonly referred to as TDHCA, and the City of Houston.

Whereas the City of Houston will accept an award of homeless housing services program, HHSP funds for both the general set aside and the youth set aside funds.

This ordinance will authorize the housing and community development department director to represent the city for the HHSP award and provide signature authority to execute the contract and authorize amendment changes.

Next slide.

Per TDHCA, the general set-aside funds must be used by the city on activities eliminating and or preventing homelessness.

Specific allowable activities include construction, development, or procurement of housing for homeless persons, rehabilitation of structures targeted to serving homeless persons or persons at risk of homelessness, provisions of direct services and case management to homeless persons or persons at risk of homelessness and other homelessness-related activities as approved by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.

Next slide.

Next slide.

Cities currently served through HHSP include Arlington, Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, Plano, and San Antonio.

Ordinances allocating the accepted HHSP funds for use by local nonprofit organizations will be presented to city council for consideration within the coming months.

And that concludes that presentation.

Shall I go on?

You can, thank you.

Okay, now we're on item 2B.

So for item to be, our department is presenting an ordinance authorizing a lease agreement with Harmony House Incorporated for the city owned facility located at 2903 Jensen Drive.

Under this agreement, Harmony House will operate a 247 shelter serving individuals currently experiencing unsheltered homelessness.

This site will function as a bridge to housing with on site partnerships, including Harris Health, who provides clinical services, and Harris Center, who provides behavioral health services, both who assist in supporting pathways to into stable housing.

Harmony House was selected through a notice of funding availability process.

The lease term is 36 months beginning August 1st, 2026 through July 31st, 2029.

Harmony House has received funding from the city of Houston since 2006 on various agreements.

And it should also be noted that Harmony House is the current operator of the Navigation Center.

Next slide.

And we can actually go on to item 2C.

And the in Street Homelessness Funds.

These funds will support the administration and operation at the city owned facility located at 2903 Jensen Drive, where Harmony House will operate a 247 facility for individuals currently unsheltered.

The facility will provide up to 100 beds and is expected to serve a minimum of 150 individuals this year.

On-site staff along with partners like Harris Health and Harris Center will work to connect individuals to housing and the services they need to become stably housed and not return to homelessness.

This funding supports full operations of the site, which includes staffing, case management, meals, security, pet care, and maintenance, and is a part of the mayor of Mayor Whitmeyer's strategy to end street homelessness, as well as a part of the broader Houston-Harris County Homeless Response Strategy.

Services offered at this location include the operation of the facility 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during declared emergencies and disaster events.

Implementation of security protocols that prioritize de-escalation and crisis response while demonstrating the ability to triage individuals with complex needs to appropriate levels of care.

Accept referrals from system partners, meal services three times per day, including snacks and beverages.

Implement diversion and rehousing strategies, including reunification when appropriate, complete coordinated entry assessments.

These are just some of the services that will be offered at the facility.

Harmony House again was selected through a NOFA process, and the agreement term is 36 months, beginning August 2026 through July 2029.

And today we have Preston Witt, chief executive officer here in the audience.

And that includes that's the end of my presentation.

I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you, Melody.

Um we'll go ahead and take questions if there are any from those present at the horseshoe this afternoon on these three items that you presented.

But just going back over them.

That is correct.

And this is the type of funding that we receive on a on a regular basis on a yearly basis.

Yes, um, we receive this annually.

I will say that when we first received this money, it was supposed to be a one-time allocation, and there were some very strong um persuaders, and so we have been able to receive this money, I think over 10 years.

That's great, and we appreciate the administration and their efforts to continue getting this uh funding from the state.

And so this is not any uh city revenue, this is money that comes from the state.

It's uh and is actually Texas General uh revenue.

Okay.

And the second item uh is a lease agreement, which is um essentially a renewal, is it not?

No, so this is the first time the Harmony House will be leasing the navigation center from the city of Houston.

Prior to this year, the coalition for the homeless was the leaseholder.

They contracted with Harmony House for the operations.

Okay, and this is a three-year agreement, is that right?

That's correct.

It's a three-year, there is an option within the agreement to extend for an additional two years at the city's request.

If we were to extend, um, that would probably require more money, and we would have to come back before this body to do that.

All right, and um Harmony House has provided services there for quite a while, as you mentioned, right?

I believe for the last three years, last three years.

Okay, is it three years?

And that facility is three four years and then uh a temporary so four years uh at um the Jensen location, prior to the Jensen location, they operated a hotel where they offered services, and that was to bridge them into the facility.

Okay, appreciate that that clarification and what Harmony House does to help us with the homelessness uh issue.

And then the third, the third item is a subrecipient agreement uh that does outlay some funds that the city has and um uh some of those are coming from the DR24 that we've discussed recently, is that right?

Correct.

Do you know the breakdown?

Um, I do know the breakdown.

Okay, between the uh DR 24 and the N Street Homelessness Fund.

Right.

So the DR24 funds, it comes out to over the over the three year period, $7.5 million, and the fund 2012 funds come out to a little under $3 million.

It's $2,967,309.56 cents.

All right, and the end street homelessness fund comes from where?

That comes from a variety of different revenue sources.

Um I don't know if you want to sure uh it comes from one Metro Houston First, uh philanthropy, and um there is some there will be some tours monies that will go in there over time.

Okay, variety of um sources of that funding as well.

Okay, thank you for that.

And and just curious to know, Melody, uh, on the first item, so the award from the state of one point six nine million roughly at the conclusion of that, uh, is there some uh sort of reporting that that we might have access to to see how many people were helped and how they were helped and so forth?

Sure.

So we currently are um closing out our current agreement, and so we do submit a final report to the state with all that information.

We're happy to send a copy of that to you.

Great, thank you so much.

We do have uh council member Willie Davis in the queue.

Thank you, brother Chair.

Uh thank you all for the presentation.

Question at the Harmony House, what is the capacity?

Right now the capacity is 100 beds.

One on the beds, yes.

Okay, and and is that is that is that also an additional, I mean, are there going to be expanding with that facility?

It's just that's the max to where they are, right?

Right.

Correct.

Okay, good.

Also, second question on that uh appropriation, is there any is there additional if other facilities, and I know brother the rector and others that are looking uh for other facilities, does that fall in the line of that same allocation of dollars?

It doesn't.

Okay, okay.

I I just I just wanted to be sure because we get asked all of the all the time people asking questions.

So I just want to make sure we clear.

Okay.

Thank you.

Two points on this.

One one is when we mentioned Harmony House, they are a major support in helping uh individuals who are experiencing homelessness, people, individuals coming out of prison, number of things.

They have a uh worker's dorm.

Yeah, that the city helped with financing on that, and it's really an exceptional place for people who are working and working themselves out of homelessness and destitution.

They've done a great job with that.

They've done a great job with this.

The hotel that they were running was a very difficult situation in Councilwoman's Peck's district.

And we ended up, it was okay.

It was okay because the way they did it.

They do a really great job.

They've got very experienced people.

The second part is that if you look at the amount of dollars that are spent at home per person at Harmony House versus those at 419 emancipation, it is less because there's less acuity, less severe um acuity for the clients at Harmony House.

Those clients are ready for housing and ready to move on.

And that's one of the big distinctions.

Again, Harris Center and Harris Health provides services there, but not to the level that they provide services at 419 emancipation.

Okay.

That was going to be my question.

Also, the record is that they're they're doing a different program, or are they doing the same that helped Harris Health is doing at emancipation?

What kind of program?

It's similar.

So the individuals ideally at 419 have more needs than somebody who's coming to the navigation center.

And so there's not the same level of care, the same level of services.

But when when you're about ready to go on to your next um housing situation, many times from 419 in the last 30 days, many times during 419, you're then moved over to the navigation center.

So it's a leveraging piece.

Very good.

Okay, thank you.

So if I could just follow up on that, um services to the homeless are offered in both facilities, but um they serve they serve largely different clients, uh although they do have things in common.

Correct.

I would say they sometimes serve the same clients at different times.

Okay.

Okay.

Yes, they're similar.

So, you know, as somebody gets uh somebody gets more stable, but they may not be ready to go into housing yet, but they have less needs.

They would probably then go to the navigation center.

So there's still homeless individuals who don't have a secure or stabilized housing plan yet, but they did may not need the intensive services that you would get at 419.

All right, and we're gonna talk about uh the uh hub on emancipation here shortly.

Yes.

Uh so thank you for that.

Uh Melody.

I don't see any other uh questions in the queue.

Any questions for Mr.

Witt who's the CEO at Harmony House comments?

Uh I don't see any, but I do want to thank you, uh Mr.

Witt, for everything that um Harmony House has done to help help the city.

Uh Melody mentioned that there this this was a NOFA process, and I think I asked last week in preparation for this meeting whether there were any other applicants for this this particular.

Yeah, so so we had one application, which was Harmony House.

But what I will say is that we had um as part of our NOFA process, we also had an invitation to tour um the navigation center before putting the the proposal together, and we had I think it was over 85 individuals that had RSVP'd for the tour, and at that point we had to go ahead and cancel the tour because this is an active facility, so um not to harm the residents there.

We canceled the tour and said we would do a tour after applications were in, and so we had a lot of interest, but it's a very complex project that we only did have one um applicant apply, and that was Harmony House.

It was Harmony House, yes.

All right, again, thank you.

Thank you all for being here.

And um, seeing no other questions, we'll go ahead and move to our director's report.

Thank you.

Uh Director Nichols, I'll turn it over to you.

I'm gonna ask Wayne Young to come stand with me if you will.

Certainly.

Wayne is the outgoing CEO at Harris Center.

Um, and we're glad to have him here.

Um, he'll speak to that too.

Uh they have a new CEO in Keena Pace.

Um, but we're glad to have Wayne here for this presentation.

And I'm looking to see Chief Sadwite was here.

He's in another meeting that he's running on a major Department of Justice grant that they're working on.

But looked like about 40 people in that meeting when I left.

I appreciate that.

There's a lot going on, but I too want to welcome Director for Director Harris for your uh work there at the Harris Center.

We work with you guys and have always been impressed by uh the professionalism and uh the service that the Harris Center offers and uh so we welcome you as well.

Sorry to see you go, but as you were telling me before we started, uh you're leaving it in the capable hands of Keena Pace, right?

Okay, good.

Well, I think if possible, Mr.

Chairman is just go through this presentation, and then um there are a few extra questions we'll try to answer, and I'm sure um Wayne Young will add to this because it's uh very much his his re his dream and his vision that has done so much.

That's great.

I have a hard copy in front of me, but I see it's up on the screens as well for the audience to follow along and and for those present at the horseshoe as well.

So go ahead and proceed when when you want.

Again, Fort 19 Emancipation, often called the Super Hub, which I hate that name.

And so I use the long name, which is the 222-bed residential homelessness resource center.

Um, and uh, although that's a long name, that's a much better description of what it is.

Uh next slide, please.

Again, under the leadership of Mayor Whitmeyer, 419 is a critical step in strengthening the city's service-driven response system to street homelessness and connecting individuals to care, stability, and a clear exit to pathways out of out of homelessness.

It's a 24-7 facility, and again, the key to this that's helped me so much understanding what we do there is triage, transition, and treatment of supportive people, uh, individuals experiencing homelessness.

Let me say there's some key words there.

One is uh individuals, because all the folks who are dealing with homeless homelessness are different with different issues and different ways of solutions, and every time we do a broad brush of that, it's a step to failure.

So the individuals is key.

Triage is all about finding what they need, finding what's going on with them, assessing them.

A lot of times you've heard assessments in the past, and it's been about housing assessment.

These assessments are psychological, physical, and other items that really make up the uh whole person who's experiencing homelessness.

Transition is what happens next.

Again, some of the folks, as we said, could go to the navigation center if they're ready for housing and have housing available.

Some may go to more uh acute facilities like 6160 or the Dunn Center.

And again, there'll be treatment there too, which um Wayne Young will uh make discuss in a minute, moment.

Next slide.

Again, I'm just gonna go through that and then Wayne can come back about all the basic and enhanced services.

Again, safe temporary housing is the first step.

Um there'll be intensive stabilization support, trauma informed therapy, ongoing treatment will be there, peer and recovery support, which I know Wayne's gonna speak to, linking to communities resources, case management, services, substance use services, assistance and application for social services, clothing, healthy meals, employment support, pet care, medication management, psychiatry, and physical care.

This is a broad range of services, but when you go through it, it meets those needs of the people coming off the street.

Next slide, and Wayne, I'm gonna let you talk for a while after I finish.

Again, the purpose operated by the Harris Center in East Downtown 419 is that residential care and diversion facility designed to provide immediate coordinated support for people experiencing homelessness.

I'll keep saying it, it's not a shelter, it's not a super hub.

It is 222-bed residential support services for people experiencing homelessness.

Um we had an opening on May 27th, and when you see some of the things that are going on, it was a quick opening.

It's remarkable.

I talked to my daughter who came from Salt Lake City, and they're still three to five years out from opening their homeless services center.

We did this very quickly, and we're still in the middle of making some things right.

When you go into the building, the place where the pets will be still has a hole in the floor as we're fixing the foundation and also doing some cleanup in there.

There are other issues that are going on, but we wanted to open as quickly as possible and get residents in there.

We originally thought we'd get 20 and 30.

It filled up almost immediately.

Tremendous need, tremendous desire for people experiencing homelessness to be there.

I'll say the data today share that we share today is reflects very early operational activity, not long-term performance.

The outcomes will be assessed over time as the operation stabilizes and we have system level patterns emerge, we'll have all the numbers.

Currently, the numbers we have, about 331 people have walked through the doors of the center.

Almost all of them have been law enforcement drop-offs as we discourage walk-ins until we can get the focus, have some as we begin moving people out of the facility into other areas and to other transitions, and also as we make sure that the neighborhood immediately surrounding this facility is supported.

Again, animals have always been a big thing.

We had three dogs admitted and sheltered.

We did shelter them elsewhere.

I think there was sheltered at the navigation center as we got the rooms appropriated.

It turns out that in this first group, animals had not been a major issue.

We don't know over time.

We saw a lot of animals during the freezes, but we think that that population will grow as there are more walk-ins.

Guests have found temporary and full-time employment.

Some have reconnected with families and others in their personal network after they got stabilized.

Some have transitioned to other service based based on their needs.

Again, if somebody was looking to have a program of sobriety, there was great facilities for their women and children.

Some of them got transitioned to Salvation Army, and some gained individual permanent housing.

I'm disappointed today that I don't have those numbers for you.

Wayne may have some better numbers.

And at this point, I'll turn it over to Wayne.

The next slide is about real stories.

Have you seen these?

All right.

Because they came from your group.

They did come from our group.

Good afternoon, everybody.

I appreciate the opportunity to be here, and we are really excited about the launch of this program and its impact thus far.

As you can see, there are a couple of individual stories.

I will say six weeks is where we are.

That's the point from when we admitted the very first person.

And it is very difficult to get data-driven outcomes in a six-week period.

We certainly think that the numbers are important, but at this point, probably the individual stories are the best reflection of the things that are going on there.

As you can see, we've had everything from people who came in, kind of needing basic services, basic supports, footwear, clothing, that internet access, who now have secured full-time employment and been able to begin the process towards self-sufficiency and ending homelessness.

We have had individuals that we involved other service agencies, adult protective services being one, where there was some real concern about potential abuse and exploitation with that individual.

Partnered with them, ultimately decided that there was a different facility that would be a better option that could handle the more kind of long-term nature of the needs of that individual.

They were successfully transitioned out into a place that could provide that supports.

We've had individuals that have transitioned within the Harris Center services.

One of the things that is great is that we do operate, particularly those with more mental health focused concerns, other beds in our community.

Today we operate about 700 of those kinds of beds, different levels in acuity and need base.

So some have transitioned to other places, some have stayed there while they waited.

Another gentleman was able to be connected with the VA.

The VA have programs and services that can help him transition into a stable living situation, and another program that we have that they fund, and so we were able to get him through that VA connection into a different placement.

So it is it is full.

We have been full now for a little while, but that's not a static situation.

We continue to try and assess individuals that can transition to other programs.

We don't want to do it at their expense.

We don't want to do it too early.

We want to make sure that we're able to meet their needs.

Um but I think we all understood from the very beginning that 222 beds was not going to meet the full community need, um, you know, on the at least an immediate basis.

Over time, it certainly can serve many.

Um I will point out that I think the um projected number served was 750.

Um, and so we in six weeks have impacted about half that number that was expected to be served over the course of the year, and are excited to be able to continue.

We will do an external evaluation of the program.

We will I believe in data.

I believe that data is as how we can provide information to decision makers like you to decide what programs should be continued and what programs might not be meeting their intent.

Um but it does take a little bit of time.

I believe Gell Diversion is one of the first innovative programs we did, and it took about a year for us to publish that data and outcomes because right now something that looks like a success next week might not be so successful, and something that looks like it was a tough transition might end up being very successful in another month or two.

And so it is early to draw conclusions on what that looks like, but um we're excited to be able to provide that when the time is right for that.

Thank you uh for that information.

And just following up on some of the numbers here, and I don't have a slide number, unfortunately, but um Director Nichols, in your part of the presentation, you mentioned um a total of 331 folks have been admitted.

A capacity is 22, right?

So doing the math, uh about 109 folks have gone through or came in but are no longer there.

Uh do you can you give us an idea of what has happened to those 109 folks?

Sure.

So I mean, part of it is um it it did happen very quickly.

We're still cleaning up a little bit of the data.

Um, it we do know, at least anecdotally, that it goes across a broad range from individuals who've said, you know what, this isn't what I thought it was, I'd rather not be here.

Respectfully, okay, that you know, people are free.

They're they're agents of themselves, and they can leave if they would like to.

Um, and many of them are as we described here, transitions to other programs.

Um, Harmony House does an excellent job at Navigation Center.

I've been there, I've seen it, we've worked closely with them.

Um individuals transition there, individuals transition to some of our other um transitional housing options, people transition to other programs we operate.

So I don't have a data where I can say this number went here or categorized in that way, but it it represents a broad range of outcomes and dispositions for those hundred and nine that have transitioned out.

Okay.

I can imagine there's some disappointment that we don't have the data at six weeks, but I would say a decision was made, and I will take responsibility for that decision to open this as quickly as possible, knowing that there were gonna be things that were gonna not happen perfectly.

Um what I'm excited about is that a number of people have handled or being housed safely.

We've not had major incidents, so that's always the that was a great data's great news.

We've got a staff that's been trained and are getting better and better at their work every day, and the expectation is that this data will be forthcoming.

We just don't have it at this early day.

I understand.

And uh doing the math, it's actually less than six weeks, Director, so we appreciate your coming this early and giving us an update on how things have been going.

I'm curious to know, because as you pointed out, uh almost all of these are law enforcement dropouts, all those six walk-ins have been accepted.

If somebody comes to the front door and um tries to walk in, but but right now you're at capacity, you don't have room.

What are they told?

How is that handled?

Yeah, so um fortunately, I think most of the individuals um have we've been able to accommodate a couple that walked up.

We are prioritizing law enforcement drop-offs.

Part of that is to maintain the commitment to the neighborhood that they would um you know not do anything detrimental to it, that we would try and serve those that are um already um experiencing homelessness in their community and and immediately adjacent to the facility.

Um we would typically talk with them about what other resources might be available.

Um, while we're very proud of this, and this is a large investment and opportunity.

You know, it is new, and we have been serving individuals unhoused in our community for a long time.

So we talk about other shelter options that are available, we talk about other if their behavioral health needs, other behavioral health programmatic options that are available, um, other partners in our community who are serving those who are unhoused, and try and get them connected to some service.

If they say no, I don't want that, if I can't be here, then I want to go, then certainly we'll respect that, and and that's what will happen.

But we will do our best to try and connect them to something else in the community if they are willing and able.

And it's been mentioned that service providers do come into the facility and engage with uh the folks who are staying there or have been accepted.

Um can you give us an idea?

Uh mention some of the service providers that that uh do come in and engage with uh the folks who are there.

Yeah, so um many of the ones that you typically have seen, we've had um partnership already um with search.

I know that the navigation center folks have been there at times.

We've tried to focus the at least the early partnerships on those facilities that have locations that people need to transition to, allowing them to come on site and doing some of those um assessments and and for their program component.

The physical health piece, Harris Health is delivering the physical health care services, uh, they are building out a space to um provide the normal clinic environment that they do, but they're great partners as an interim solution.

They literally pull their mobile clinic up and it's in the parking lot, so um it's they got to walk outside to get there, but there are on-site physical health services that are there.

Um we do have a law enforcement presence that's there.

We appreciate the partnership of Harris County Sheriff's Office.

Um they're providing on-site law enforcement support.

Um, we know that there are other HPD and Metro as well, um, have some on-site officers who are who are officing or will be officing out of there, so it's a broad range of service providers, and and we are actively trying to outreach and engage others.

We just want to make sure that it's not we don't create kind of an overwhelming situation with it.

We do it with some order and sequence to it.

Okay, appreciate that.

And so since we met last week, uh, Director Nichols, we have had a couple a few questions submitted from the public.

Uh, and and if I can ask a few of these, so uh one person has has um said um they've seen an increase in the unhoused population in in east downtown Edo uh since uh both this facility opened and simultaneous with the FANFEST associated with the World Cup that's been going on.

Um any data on that or a reaction to that?

We don't have that data about untreated individuals leaving the facility.

Um that's obviously something that's gonna be very important to us as we go forward.

I do not have any anecdotal data on Edo.

Um, Chief Sadter White May, that's the question I had for him, and I apologize that he's not available right now.

I know we've spent a lot of time and effort in the that area with uh overtime with overtime law enforcement in that area makes sure Saturday, Sunday evenings, that those areas are covered, and if the we get calls about someone who's experiencing homelessness, we're there immediately.

But again, I don't know if in the whole area of Edo there's increase in homelessness.

There is, we do see it in midtown.

We'll say that that's that's where I see it the most.

Um but I have not heard that about Edo, but I maybe the chief hands.

Okay, thank you for that.

And as we we mentioned, uh the vast majority of folks have come in with a police escort.

Is the hope that in the future um you'll be able to accept folks who aren't necessarily accompanied by by an officer?

Absolutely.

And again, uh I like the way the way Wayne Young said it earlier.

He said that's it is a thrill when people walk through the door and want to be helped.

That's very exciting, and we also we don't we never want to discourage that.

Uh so this idea of going with the police escort, I think there's what I've heard anecdotally is that people have waved down some officers and said where they want to go.

Another big news is people want to stay.

Those are the if I that's the most positive I can say.

Um let me ask you about a different um issue.

Uh folks from uh the east side have reached out in regards to um uh a plan that is being talked about to uh take over a parcel of property that's behind the uh the emancipation facility at this time.

Can you speak to that?

Sure.

There was an empty street that went nowhere that had been blocked uh called Preston, and uh we made a uh I think council may have already approved it, even a agreement with the other person who's abutted that street that he would give this that street to the other half of that to the city.

And what we're planning to do is use that for a additional space for the navigation center, not a space for extra building, but a space simply for people to be outside more.

It will be gated, it will be fenced, it will be fenced, we can't see through it.

It's not a place for tents or any place else.

It's for the individuals who are residing at the navigation center to have a place to walk around, walk their dogs, just to have more outdoor space.

Um again, but the neighborhood is one in which we've all wanted we wanted people to stay in that facility, and having that outdoor space will be very meaningful.

Um, we're raising funds right now to uh fill in the space with dirt, use the fencing, put grass out there, and it again will not be a place for people to have tents or for other people to hang out.

It is simply for the people who reside at that facility to have a park like location.

All right, and and some folks on the east side have told us that at one time that parcel included an underpass below the railroad, if I'm understanding correctly.

Um and given the mobility challenges uh for folks who live on the east side.

There, there was hope that um they might one day be able to open that underpass back up to allow uh for folks to move more more freely and with less difficulty uh, you know, east east and west.

Are you are you familiar with any of that?

I've heard comments about that, and then in my conversation with uh HPW, they have said that's not a uh in the future or an idea that had any real legs going forward.

It was just something that some folks had said, What about doing this?

Is of course they've had significant problems going east to west, but that was never a uh idea that had uh any study or reasonable, for my understanding with HPW.

So they were help happy to just turn this into something usable instead of what it was now, it's just a place for people who are experiencing homelessness to go hide and uh be in that in that culvert.

And and what is the status of that uh abandonment of that parcel, if you will, and acquisition of that for you said that.

So it's I think we've the the the owners of the owner has signed the release, and I thought it had gone to council already.

I apologize if I'm not sure.

Is that right?

It has gone to council, was approved by council.

Okay, all right.

Um I do see we've been joined by Chief Satter White.

How are you doing?

No, I understand you were in in an important meeting before, so we're glad you're able to come.

Do you want to come come say they had a question for you that I couldn't answer and Wayne may have been able to answer?

I just don't know.

Sure, now this was a very important meeting that the chief stood in.

Uh the question comes to the question was that there's been a noticeable increase in unhoused people in Edo.

This may be the result of the fanfest, not 419.

Do we have any data on untreated individuals choosing to leave the facility?

And we've answered that.

And do we have anything that we can share publicly about uh increased people?

And I answered the question about your staff that's been there.

Sure, sure.

Thank you.

Uh so we're doing we're it's been a lot of effort and a lot of resources to ensure that the area around 419, excuse me, uh is actually safer and better off than it was.

As you all know, that area was already a really challenged area, um, especially along 59 and Chartres, but the whole area, even the the park right behind it.

Uh Settigas Park was continually having people sleeping in the park, things of that nature.

So uh we've had a concerted effort with teams going out every evening and on weekends, ensuring uh making sure nothing goes south and goes the wrong way, uh, getting people you know out of those areas, getting them to the help that they need.

And I'm I'm sure uh Wayne and uh Director Nichols, Mike Nichols have said or said what we've already been able to accomplish at 419 with over 300 people off the street, which is huge, given who's in there right now and the people that have already moved on to other facilities.

Am I correct in that number?

So um, so we are still being very diligent.

Now, FIFA, I can't say it's FIFA, I don't I don't know.

I mean, there's a been a lot of people in that area suddenly now, as you all can imagine, because we've had all the activations over there.

Uh so there's a lot of people in general walking around.

Um, and and is that does that mean there's been an increase in homeless?

We aren't seeing that.

We're making every effort to engage everybody over there, and whenever you know law enforcement is has been engaging on a regular basis, anybody outside the property that's trying to make sure that the areas continues to be as safe as possible and everybody is taken care of as best as possible.

So I can't speak to an increase.

Um, I know that our teams are talking to all to the community because I'm I'm directing them to do so, and so they're reporting back.

They talk to this neighbor, they talk to that neighbor, and generally the response has been very good.

But certainly somebody might have seen somebody or might feel that way, and I can't dispute that.

I appreciate that uh Chief Satterwright, and and thanks again for rushing from that meeting uh to uh to help us out here.

Um, if I could ask one more question related to the the parcel behind the hub.

Um did did I hear that the the item council voted on pertained to a lease or or something of that parcel?

Are we talking about the uh the next door?

Uh the what it would pertain to is acceptance of the um neighbor next door giving that property to the city.

I see.

And who was the neighbor next door?

Just curious.

The company I his name is Mr.

Swear and I don't know.

Yeah, so the name is Mr.

Swear.

And so it's actually it's the old Preston Street.

Uh so there's he it's actually not giving uh as much as it is that uh when you abandon a street, and I am way out of my uh my line here.

I just won't tell you all that right now.

I'm over my skis, but appreciate it.

Thank you.

When we abandon a street, the property that abuts that only both sides, the property owners, uh, can say, look, you know, I have some control of what should happen because the street was abandoned.

And it gives them some rights, and so unless so there's different ways to deal with that, but the most the easiest way is to get the property owner to waive any kind of dispute on that property so that we can go ahead and and we can move forward and use that in the manner we see best right now.

And that's what we're looking at that piece of that parcel.

It's it's not an acre, it's about a half to three quarters of an acre.

But what we see for that property is that uh an additional uh space to expand the courtyard behind at 419 to actually even create a little bit more of a nicer seating area and and of course a place for them to walk their their pets.

Um that would also be fenced, it would be a part of the overall 419 site, uh so it's just a more accommodating for the people that are there for the periods of time that they're there.

Uh it also um, you know, a lot of the individuals that we we are working with, they have different degrees of mental illness and other issues going on, and this type of serene environment is is more helpful to them in terms of during their time there in terms of accommodating, you know, so that they are less likely to have some of the issues.

They like to go to the parks.

Well, we obviously would rather have them with us where we can treat them, and this affords us that opportunity to create a space that can do that at a you know low cost.

I appreciate that.

Anything else you want to add?

Um I I think uh yeah, no, no, sir.

Okay questions for sure if you have thank you.

Sure, sure.

And we have uh staff from Councilmember Mary Nat Huffman's office in the queue.

Thank you much, Chair.

Just a couple quick questions.

Um, so do you know?

I know it's only been six weeks, but uh, how many individuals have been brought to the facility by law enforcement or or sorry, how many individuals brought by law law enforcement have been turned away, if any, as of right now?

321 of the 331, 325 of the 331 were brought by law enforcement.

We know that.

Okay.

And they're um and they could again be sent to 6160, which is another facility, or to another place, but we do not have that data at this point.

Gotcha.

And um are there any instances of county law enforcement bringing individuals to to this facility?

Yes.

And if so, do you know what the uh makeup of the of that is is a 50 percent, 30 percent, 25 percent?

No, sir.

Uh, I don't I don't have that number, um, but this is a facility that you know we have a lot of partner agencies.

We actually have right now, uh, and council has approved, we have um Harris County Precinct One working every evening and on weekends and Metro Police Department working evenings and weekends right now uh um to go out and engage and and create a safer environment and bring people in.

So, yes, I don't I don't have an actual number, but the and we are we are about to come back to council with a larger ILA that will cover them all because we're going to need everybody uh in this effort if we're gonna be successful and all law enforcement agencies and their respective jurisdictions and the communities that they serve are telling them this is a major challenge from a major issue they won't resolve, which is homelessness and all the challenges that come with that.

So again, we're about big tent, all everybody working together, and we need their buy-in.

If I'm reading into your question, though, the focus of those folks who work nights and weekends is the surrounding area.

Gotcha.

So individuals, uh there's not an instance of an individual being brought from the unincorporated part of the county to this facility.

Or, you know, that's not the current design or plan.

I would I can't tell you that's not happened.

I wouldn't want to say that.

I'm just telling you that overwhelmingly the people that are coming right now are from that area out within uh a distance, you know, a couple three miles.

Okay.

It's been the primary focus, and really our real focus has been around the facility to start with, uh, because we made promises to that community because that's where we stood it up.

And just to just to even clarify it further, um not just now, but for years, um people have been brought to the 6160 facility to by law enforcement or to the Houston Recovery Center by law enforcement and including all sorts of law enforcement.

So it's uh they're used to bringing somebody, people who are have a mental health problem, alcohol problem to one of these facilities.

Gotcha.

And I know uh council member Huffman has been hearing a lot from residents in District G that there's been they feel like there's been an uptick in homeless activity on the west side of town.

Are how how are we making aware of the DRT teams that this facility uh is able to accept?

Well, maybe not right now because it's that capacity, but this is an option for for them to utilize so that we can get these folks the help that they need.

Are they aware of it?

Are they able to to utilize uh the facility?

No, no, they are.

We've sent out guidance, we sent out emails and information, we've talked to leadership of all the agencies.

This is an option.

We have said our strategy, which is focusing uh where we are to start, and but we do intend to expand out and and as quickly as possible.

We do this is a great facility and we've helped a lot of people, we will help a lot of people, but capacity is still a challenge.

Um, you know, it's a good thing that we've gotten as many off as we have, but you know, off the streets as we have, but we certainly um are going, hopefully we'll be able to get them transition them to their next stop, which will be good for them, and along the way that we'll be able to create more bed space and go and engage more folks in district D and quite frankly throughout the city and then on into the county.

Um let me let me answer one other thing before I see the woods may be able to answer your question on Preston Street in detail.

Um as we as people make these decisions to help folks instead of bringing them to jail, bring them to one of these other facilities.

That's still the key to doing this going forward.

Um, as far as going uh further away, the more we can move people through these facilities, and you'll see some announcements in the near future about other groups, including Harris County and other groups who are going to help us um do uh quick res quick resolution uh for people who can be moved to another facility or to jobs.

So that's still the key is this collaboration of working together to move folks out of 419, out of the navig navigation center to housing.

Um that's still the key.

And the quicker we can do it, we'll be able to move some more people in, including the people in the west side.

Gotcha, and just one one last question.

So I know you're prioritizing uh folks in the general area there.

Is there a prioritization of where in the city uh, you know, we're accepting folks from or where we're targeting uh across the city, or so everything is the whole strategy is built on you know capacity, you know, what what do we have, and and and it's really just expanding out as as kind of a it's not perfect, but just kind of outward from the facility, um, you know, half mile, a mile, two miles, that's the idea.

Um, and so yeah, it's if if we have more capacity, we are certainly going to uh we're going further and and reaching as far as we can, like like Director Nichols was saying.

Um, but that it's really not, you know, it's just it's just out from there.

So I don't nobody's really being put in front of anybody else.

It's more geographically speaking, just how we're doing the approach.

Um, but you know, I do know that the West Side, I do have those meetings.

I know uh the council members, she's she's not wrong.

There are challenges out there, uh, there are challenges everywhere.

Homelessness, I will say, across the nation is up.

We are doing a better job here, thankfully, than some of our sister cities across the nation.

Um, but we're not gonna rest on that.

We have a lot to do.

Thank you.

And certainly appreciate that, Chief, and appreciate everything that that you guys are doing.

I do have kind of a follow-up question.

Excuse me, before do you do you did you get your answers on pressure strength?

Because Steven Woods has negotiated that with the swearings.

Okay, look at let's go ahead and hear from uh from you, Stephen.

If if you if he would like to give us a status update on on that process, sure.

Well, it the status is that it's done.

The the council city council approved the property rights agreement uh a month or six weeks ago or so.

Uh Mr.

Swearin through his entity has signed over the quick claim deed to the property.

We've signed the memorandum of writer first refusal, all that's recorded and it's done.

We've now initiated the uh abandonment process through the JRC, and that is ongoing and it's scheduled to uh in the next couple weeks.

Alright, and does that uh JRC uh process involve a vote by council when it's done at the JRC or not?

I don't know.

Okay.

I I I believe so.

Okay.

But the the the in a couple weeks is the uh internal you know city engineers and so forth who analyze the request.

Okay, great.

I appreciate that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um, so I wanted to follow up.

Uh when someone is admitted to the facility and they decide, hey, this isn't for me.

Uh I want to leave, or when someone uh walks up but they're at capacity and you can't really take them.

Are those folks in those two categories offered a ride somewhere else in the city, or are they are they uh just released at that point?

So all the directors.

Look inside.

I mean, I mean, yeah, Dr.

Young, sorry.

Um, Wayne's great.

Actually, preferred, um, yeah.

So those individuals are offered a ride.

A part of our um component of the service there is transportation.

We recognize that that's a challenge for many of these individuals.

Um, and frankly, if they show up and want to engage, I don't want to just send them down the street and hope that they get there.

So if they will allow us to transport them to a next resource, um, we would happily do that.

We would not ask law enforcement to do that typically, we would prefer to do that ourselves.

So law enforcement can can be back doing what they need to do.

Great, glad to hear that.

Okay.

We do have a couple of uh folks in the queue.

We'll go to council member Davis.

Thank you, Brother Chair.

Uh, thank you guys again for your reporting and information.

Uh let me just say off in the interim, that you guys have done an excellent job, and and I do believe that Houston is doing a better job than most major cities in following that.

So the question we up to now, uh brother Side of White, we had what nearly three hundred, a little over.

What is it about?

So, uh, I'm gonna get in trouble giving you a hard number, but I I think we've lifted probably about 320 people on the street so far.

Correct.

So, so to my estimation, that for us in Houston, that's 300 and some people that would have been out there that are not out there, which is uh um a credit to the success that you and brother director uh Nichols have done in this process and the mayor.

But the mayor's leading.

Absolutely, the mayor leading this.

The thing is, you know, we have we went on a break with the the ministers' advisory board in terms of the churches that want to participate in that.

We're leading that group, and several of them.

We've been kind of like a sabbatical for two months, June and July, and we we're gonna be meeting again to come back because you know many of the pastors that you all have come and made presentations to become very interested in how we help in that process.

So we're gonna look forward to having that discussion in August coming around, which is our next meeting and there beyond, you know, to so that we can adjust what our participation could do to help it.

The other thing I want to bring forth is as I spoke to you and Director Nichols before, and that is some people who have stepped forward, because facilitating these homeless people, we know is a major challenge and a goal that we're trying to do.

But we got to have dollars.

There has to be some finance that has to follow this process.

And so we are having a couple of groups that I've interacted with that want to do these fundraisers in order to get these dollars because that's what it's gonna take.

It's easy for us to make the complaints about the numbers, and naturally it's summertime, and people are going to be transitioning back and forth, people are coming in from different places, and so we'll know we'll see the numbers go up of people showing up around the facilities.

So, but I just want to commend what you guys are doing, and it's this is an undertaking that I think all of Houston has to step up and do to help out uh in this matter.

But thank you for the work that you guys are doing.

Excellent.

Thank you, thank you, Councilmember.

And and I'll second that.

The fact that you're full up, you know, less than six weeks into this uh just speaks to the the size of the issue that that you're dealing with, and so I I applaud every everything that you guys are doing.

And I just uh was wondering, uh Director Young.

Uh there were a couple more slides in your presentation.

I don't know if you wanted to go over them.

Councilmember Davis was speaking about the challenge with funding.

Uh, and you have relied on philanthropic donations uh to support, and maybe this was part of I think it was my uh director Nicholson.

Yes, thank you.

Um we have we have uh a very early fundraising efforts, and I want to thank Wayne Young's staff who's been very instrumental in that, um, and Chief Satterwhite, who's been instrumental.

Uh the first major funding that we've received is 250,000 from Quick Trip, which is a um a service station properties that have come into Houston.

They're gonna be quick building in Houston.

They wanted to do something that helped homelessness because that's an issue that their employees deal with regularly.

The facility that we visited was uh near NRG Stadium, which has a significant population of people experiencing homelessness nearby.

They put their money where there was, they put 250,000 into the city's coffers into 2012 to help strengthen Houston's coordinated response.

Very appreciative of that.

Other funds have gone directly to the Harris Center Foundation, which is chaired by Bob Ure, and that has had some funds coming in that.

They received their first hundred thousand dollar grant as a result of this effort.

Uh, again, a lot many thanks to the mayor for that and to Chief Satter White who personally made this quick trip happen.

Yeah, thank you for that.

Appreciate that.

So, so we do have uh uh staff from Councilmember Carter in the queue.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman, and thank you, uh Mr.

Young, um, now Ms.

Pace and Director Nichols and Director Satterwhite um for the hard work that you are all uh putting in to ensure the success of 419 emancipation.

Um, Councilmember Carter remains focused on ensuring the success of 419 emancipation as well, and uh she agrees that uh these partnerships are key to making it happen.

Um she personally meets uh weekly with the leadership of the Harris Center Foundation, who has put together an established uh strategic plan, and uh together they continue to build upon and establish these new partnerships.

Um, and these public-private partnerships uh they create long-term investment and improving the quality of life for all Houstonians, especially the unhoused.

Um, so we just wanted to take the time to thank you and thank you again uh for your work on this, and Councilmember Carter is happy to support.

Um I I was remiss when I mentioned that other folks, Councilmember Carter has been the um often the fire in the engine to make sure that we are asking people for funds that they know about this facility.

She's brought people there, and she's worked hand in glove with the Harris Center Foundation and their team, and all of us are indebted to her for her effort on that part.

All right, thank you for that.

Uh, was there anything else, gentlemen?

Just the next the next slide is just again um the ways to support 419 emancipation through the Harris Center Foundation, which is a 501c3, or through the city of Houston, which is Mrs.

Will Gibbing pathway again, one of many ways to support homelessness uh and making homelessness rare brief and non-reoccurring, the hundred nonprofits who raise money for the city run the city for homelessness are great coalition for the um coalition for the homeless, uh, very important organization, but again, this has been a will continue to be a major effort, and I think we'll see Houston once again be um uh celebrated for their innovation and their commitment to making homelessness rare, brief and non-reoccurring.

Well said, thank you, Director Nichols, and thank you to everyone in the administration, Department of Housing and Community Development, and uh Wayne Young, thank you for being here.

Um, and all of our our partners in the community as well.

Thank you all.

So we'll go ahead and move to our public comment portion.

We have several folks lined up to speak, and we will start with uh Joetta Stevenson, excuse me, thank you so much.

Um good evening, everyone.

Um, my name is Joetta Stevenson, and I'm the president of the Greater Fifth Ward Super Neighborhood.

Um I want to begin uh by saying that I'm not so sure after I was hearing bits and pieces of what the people that were previously sitting here were saying because there it was information that uh the super neighborhood of Fifth Ward had no idea about.

We don't know all the details.

You see, the uh homeless navigation center was basically just to give you some background, it was literally forced into my community against the will of hundreds of residents, nearly 800 residents signed petitions saying don't do this to us, uh we need help.

And it literally started during Winterstorm Uri, where we had busted pipes and still had houses that needed repair, and we couldn't understand why people wanted to bring homeless into the on top of us.

So that being said, it is what it is.

Um the uh due to certain entities that were well bent on putting it into greater fifth ward.

They won out, it's there.

Now I can say that at the time, Fifth Ward only had about eighteen unsheltered.

Now, we got a whole goo, that's not really a number, but Google of homeless people that have been pushed into my community.

Uh I recognize that the navigation center, because this was the argument that one of the things that they said, that um, oh no, we're not gonna have people just roaming the streets.

We're uh they're gonna be vetted, they're gonna be um some sort of um uh vetting of some sort, where they'd be brought in by HPD, they're not just gonna walk off the street and get into the facility.

And as far as I know, that's that was exactly the way it was, but I thought I heard one of the gentlemen say that they took walk-ups.

Um, uh that's news news to me, if that's what I heard him say.

Um, what what was agreed upon during the battle was that um at the time I believe the man who is now over the city of Houston housing uh department, uh Mr.

Nichols, he was over the coalition for homelessness, and at the time he promised that he would provide data for what was going on at the facility.

In other words, it was kind of strange that we had homeless people all over the city, especially downtown, midtown, and we couldn't understand why they were now saying, Oh, we could take this homeless person and move them within 45 days.

It's like, well, well, where have you been?

How come you haven't done this all over the city?

So one of the things they promised to do was to provide us with data of the successes of how many homeless people uh were you able to to move into other into into homes, into housing, and we've yet to get that.

And one of the my ask is that I um I did get this uh I saw the email sadly just Friday and just before I could sign up to speak.

So it kind of blindsided me in a way because I know that the facility is there, and I see the the amount, I know that the Harmony House was one of the I know they were one of the original entities that were uh was helping with that facility.

I recognize that, and they're looking for money, and that's fine.

I actually got triggered by the third uh item you had on the uh agenda, which was the 10 point something million to just homelessness.

But but uh before I get to that, I just want to ask if this vicinity is sitting in a community, and they're communicating with everybody except for the people in the community.

Because, see, one of the things that they tried to lure us with is that there's this park next to it.

We're gonna improve that part.

That I can say that part has grow as uh mowed grass.

Okay, Steven.

No bleachers know nothing from my community, and we would like for them to do something about that with any money that you provide to them.

Thank you for your comment, ma'am.

Uh your time is up, and and we'll move on to some other speakers.

But I'm happy to meet with you after after this meeting is over.

That would be a good thing because that would prevent me from coming to as many uh many uh city council meetings with a whole bunch of people to scream about this.

Joe, you you're welcome to come any time.

Yeah, let's make let's make it a problem so you and I can talk about this.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up we have Karen Rust.

Go ahead.

Okay.

Uh good afternoon.

I'm Karen Rust.

I'm a board member of the Memorial Figure Skating Club of Houston, and I'm here about ice in Houston.

We have one rink in Houston, which closes on July um 31st after 23 years in service.

For this city, it's not just a rink, it's a community asset, and once it's gone, replacing it won't be cheap and it won't be easy.

It can take three to five years to build a single ice sheet facility, 25 million and up, two ice sheets, five to ten years, 50 million and up.

And ice rink does something no facility can, and we host Theater and Ice, learn to skate for kids, figure skaters, hockey players who compete at international and national levels.

And there's a place for everyone, all people, all ages, all abilities, and um all range of skill.

So it's a safe indoor place for families and those of every age and ability to recreate, especially in the long hot Houston summers.

Um this February we won gold in hockey in women's in men's in women's figure skating, and the interest in ice sport is huge, it's booming.

Um Houston is even now under consideration and evaluation for an NHL hockey team.

Um, when Dallas, for example, got the stars in hockey, it led to a boom in skating, and the metro area up there has 23 ice sheets.

Houston in comparison is about to lose one of the five ranks that are currently operating.

All of the rinks in Houston are privately owned.

It puts them at risk of sudden closure at any time.

There are no publicly funded rinks.

Many other cities like Chicago, Glenview, Cleveland, include ice rinks as part of their parks and recreational facilities and offerings to their communities.

And the skating community wants to stay.

The rink itself, even though it's closing, draws 3,000 people a week.

That hasn't dropped even since the closure was announced.

There's a petition for 9,016 with verified signatures, 5,000 shares, and 198 comments of support, and it's climbing.

I think this shows a huge interest in having um ice sports available within Houston.

Thank you very much.

Thank you for coming.

Appreciate the comment.

Margot Fendrich.

Margot Fendridge.

Lindsay Williams.

Good afternoon, Lindsay.

Hi.

I don't usually get to sit at the table.

Usually I stand.

Sorry.

So my name is Lindsay Williams.

I am president of Super Neighborhood 64 and 88, which is Greater East of Lawn Dale and Wayside.

And I wanted to make a comment about the St.

Charles Preston Street underpass.

This isn't a new idea, actually.

This has been going on for some time.

This was an HGAC tip project that came back in 2017.

Multiple engineering firms have the documents, and the East End district identified it in their east-west connectivity study, which has been funded and has been active.

Councilmember Carter said after for searching for six months, 419 emancipation was selected because it had everything, but I guess not.

Like Ms.

Stevenson said, residents in the East End didn't want this project, but we're told by Councilmember Davis that someone has to sacrifice for the greater good, and I guess that's us again.

This isn't just about the trails.

Edo is a food desert, and this underpasses the connection that could give residents a walkable bikeable route to a much needed, hopefully coming soon HEV, along with linking Edo to Second Ward, Second Ward to downtown, and tying into the Columbia Tap Trail across railroads that continually wall off our neighborhoods.

We already lost Polk Street, the North Houston Highway Improvement Project is closing more.

The proposed UT UP mergers projected to add 40% more trains, and they've admitted that they will block more crossings, further hindering connectivity.

And I'll say this plainly: the people at Public Works saying that this project has no legs are the people who were never in contact with it or not no longer here.

This is what happens with turnover.

Institutional knowledge walks out the door, and a project that the city itself was involved in is simply gets forgotten.

That's not the same as a project having no merit.

So I'm asking, please let's talk before this happens.

Can we find a solution that suits both needs?

Don't let staff turn over erase five years of the city's own planning.

Thank you.

Lindsay, just a question.

Thank you for the history.

What was HGAX involvement?

It was just a tip.

They had been running different ideas during, I think it was a TERS-15 project, and I actually think I know where that tip came from.

During our research on the trains, as you know, we we researched the trains all of the time.

And one of the things that we learned is with the with the uh underpass that happened right there at Harrisburg, when that one opened up, this one closed, so they just filled it in for safety reasons.

It's structurally sound from what I understand.

So the engineering firm just thought, okay, since we have this railroad yard, the Congress yard that the trains move through between the Galveston sub and the West Belt, this would allow a connection underneath.

Now it wouldn't be for vehicles, it would be for pedestrians and cyclists.

But this has been a conversation for five plus years.

We've been so excited for this, like so excited for the ability that like residents from third war can come up the Columbia Tap Trail two blocks over, connect this, and they would actually get under the railroads and collect drop right into Second Ward's concept neighborhood.

And with the proposal of HEB potentially coming in, that connects two food deserts between Edo having a being able to access a new way to get to this potential location.

So it's it's just it's just a lot.

It's just a lot.

Sorry.

I'm very passionate about these things.

Alright, I appreciate that.

Sure.

Thank you for the comment.

Cool.

Lindsay.

Dominic Mazock.

Okay.

I'm in the council champion.

Okay.

Okay.

That the tunnels y'all are talking about, okay?

I do agree you cannot put, you won't be able to put cars in them.

I remember those tunnels when I was a child.

Those tunnels were actually designed not for automobiles, but for the Houston Electric to get their trains, get their uh trolley cars from downtown into the East End without being blocked by trains.

So those tunnels are very, very narrow.

But for us for bike pedestrian, it's possible.

One thing though, about you're talking about this new facility or facility on Jensen Drive, or any facility that we have.

And Willie, I want to go to you because you're you're the you seem like you're a transit oriented person.

You come to Metro Board meetings, and I appreciate that.

When let's say this Jensen thing came came came on the pike.

Did anybody from the housing department actually got on the Metro 6 and rode metro out there?

Uh these homeless people do not have cars.

And once you get to this place, are the sidewalks up the snuff for wheelchairs or uh mobility devices?

You know, when you do this, you got to have a holistic approach.

And part of this, you're talking about Harris Health, that's a good thing, the health department.

But Metro has to be part of the equation.

And this is why I'm saying you or uh the chair here, you need to ask the chair to have somebody from the Metro PD and something from Metro uh operations or that inside of Metro to be ex officials of this committee.

Because uh I've seen too many times they put in something for housing or or something of that nature, and then six months later, somebody's presenting before the metro board.

Oh, we got this put this up now.

Can you change your service?

Do the changes now so you don't have to do things later.

Also, too, as a transit rider, I think part this probably has to go through um maybe this committee, maybe um, the proposition A committee.

We need to have a zone around bus stops that are you can't bother bus passengers.

Our bus, most of our bus passengers are one or two levels of economically above the homeless.

These people do this would come poor on poor crime.

All right, thank thank you, Dominic.

We appreciate the comment, we appreciate the comment.

Pretty much.

Okay, do you want to do you want to finish finish up?

Yeah, yeah.

Uh no, and the and no, and the other thing too is the people who are homeless, some of them are getting more and more aggressive, and they're actually going into businesses and asking for help.

So I think that needs to be looked at.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you, Dominic.

So those are all the folks who have signed up to offer public comment.

Is it anyone else here who would like to come forward and offer some public comment?

Okay, I don't see any hands.

All right, so thank you all for being here.

Appreciate everybody who's participated and all the information that that we've heard.

And uh we'll go ahead and adjourn the meeting.

Look forward to our our meeting next month as well.

All right.

Have a great day.

Thank you all.