Coalition for the Homeless

What Coalition for the Homeless does

Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County (CFTH) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN 76-0257018) founded in 1982 and headquartered at 2000 Crawford St., Suite 700, Houston, Texas. CFTH operates as the designated backbone coordinator of The Way Home, a public-private regional homeless response system spanning Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties. The organization does not provide direct onsite services to people experiencing homelessness but instead convenes 100+ partner agencies, manages the centralized coordinated entry intake system, and allocates funding across the regional network. CFTH is the HUD-designated Continuum of Care (CoC) lead applicant for the Houston region and brought over $71 million in CoC NOFO funding to the area in 2024.

CFTH's core operational assets are: (1) the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), a regional data platform tracking client information, program outcomes, and HUD System Performance Measures across the partner network; (2) the Counting Us mobile application used for annual Point-in-Time Count data collection; (3) public-facing System Data Dashboards providing real-time and historical performance visibility; (4) the Help Card directory of regional services; and (5) the CoC NOFO, YHDP NOFO, and CoC Builds NOFO funding programs that channel federal dollars into the regional system. Adjacent service modules include Homeless Court, The Cornerstone Project, Income & Employment Services, and a Training Center for partner enablement. In 2026, CFTH released the inaugural State of Homelessness in Houston report expanding the analytics product beyond the annual PIT Count.

CFTH's revenue model is nonprofit: charitable donations (with an organizational claim that every $1 donated brings $91 in additional public funding into the community) plus government grants coordinated through the HUD CoC NOFO pipeline and matched by municipal/county contributions from the City of Houston, Harris County, Fort Bend County, and Montgomery County. In FY2024, CFTH coordinated $70M+ in public funding for homeless solutions and braided $55M across the past year. Customer segments are three: (a) people experiencing homelessness in the three-county region (35,988 unique clients in 2025; 2,135 households housed), (b) homeless service provider partners operating within the coordinated entry system, and (c) government and philanthropic funders. Leadership consists of President and CEO Kelly Young and Vice President of the Homeless Response System Renee Cavazos-Benavides.

Name

Coalition for the Homeless

Legal name

Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County

Website

https://homelesshouston.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1982

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County (CFTH) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit backbone organization that coordinates The Way Home regional homeless response system across Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties, convening 100+ partner agencies and managing the HUD CoC funding pipeline that brought over $71M to the region in 2024.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Homeless Services Coordination

NAICS

Community Housing Services (62422), Emergency and Other Relief Services (624230), Individual and Family Services (6241)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Housing Assistance & Homeless Services (BPAGAEAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Affordable Housing & Community Development (Housing, Community Land Trusts) (BPAGALAC), Homelessness Prevention, Shelter & Supportive Housing Services (BPAIANAC), Affordable Rental & Multifamily Housing Finance Programs (LIHTC/Tax Credits/Subsidized Loans) (FSALAKAF)

Keywords

• Homeless services coordination
• Continuum of care
• Coordinated entry services
• Supportive housing programs
• Homeless response system

Headquarters

HQ city

Houston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations: CFTH operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that accepts charitable donations from individuals and organizations. Every $1 donated brings an additional $91 in public funding into the community.
2. Public Funding Coordination: CFTH coordinates public funding from HUD, government agencies, and other public sources. In FY2024, CFTH coordinated $70M in public funding for homeless solutions.
3. CoC NOFO Funding: CFTH coordinates Continuum of Care (CoC) funding applications and allocations, bringing over $71 million to the Houston area in 2024 to support permanent housing, services, and planning efforts.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

CFTH acts as the backbone organization coordinating Houston's regional homeless response system, The Way Home, across Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties. The organization delivers a portfolio of services including the Help Card service directory, annual Point-in-Time Count, Coordinated Entry assessment, HMIS data management, Homeless Court legal assistance, Training Center education, and coordination of HUD NOFO funding programs (CoC, YHDP, CoC Builds). CFTH convenes 100+ partner agencies and coordinates over $70 million in annual public funding to move people experiencing homelessness into permanent housing with supportive services.

Product overview

Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County (CFTH) operates as a nonprofit backbone organization that coordinates the regional homeless response system, The Way Home, across Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties. The organization does not offer a unified software product but rather provides a portfolio of services including the Help Card directory, annual Point-In-Time Count methodology, Coordinated Entry assessment system, HMIS data management, Homeless Court, and various funding programs (HUD CoC NOFO, YHDP NOFO, CoC Builds NOFO). Additional offerings include the Cornerstone Project housing initiative, Training Center for partner education, and Data Dashboards for system performance monitoring. The organization leverages the Counting Us mobile app for PIT Count data collection and 2-1-1 Texas/United Way HELPLINE for referrals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Help Card
• Point-in-Time (PIT) Count
• Coordinated Entry
• Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)
• Homeless Court
• Training Center
• System Data Dashboards
• Income & Employment Services
• HUD Continuum of Care (CoC) NOFO Funding Program
• Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) NOFO Funding
• CoC Builds NOFO Funding Program

Quantifiable outcome

• 95% of people housed don't return to homelessness within two years
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• The Way HomecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Way Home is the homeless response system for Houston and Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties. It is a public-private partnership network of dozens of homeless service providers and other government, philanthropic, and business partners. CFTH serves as the designated coordinator of The Way Home as a 501c3 organization.
• United Way of Greater HoustoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUnited Way of Greater Houston is referenced as a key partner in the homeless response system, with the 2-1-1 helpline being provided through this partnership.
• City of HoustoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe City of Houston, under Mayor John Whitmire, partners with CFTH on homeless solutions including the 419 Emancipation resource living facility and housing and community development initiatives.
• Harris CountycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHarris County, led by Judge Lina Hidalgo, works with CFTH on regional homeless response. Harris County achieved a 16% reduction in homelessness between 2018 and 2026, positioning the region as a national model.
• The Way Home Partner AgenciescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCFTH convenes more than 100 partner organizations including shelters, housing programs, outreach teams, and service providers that participate in The Way Home coordinated entry system.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC): A national advocacy organization focused on federal housing policy and affordable housing funding. Adjacent to CFTH in that NLIHC influences the same federal funding streams (HUD, LIHTC) that CFTH depends on, but operates as a policy/advocacy entity rather than a service-delivery backbone.

Direct peers

• Chicago Coalition for the Homeless: A 501(c)(3) advocacy and direct service organization coordinating homelessness response and policy work in the Chicago region. Comparable in nonprofit structure, advocacy focus, and homelessness-system coordination to CFTH, though operating in a different geographic and political context.
• Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA): LAHSA is the HUD-designated Continuum of Care coordinator and joint powers authority for the Los Angeles region, performing the same backbone coordination role as CFTH for a much larger population. It is the most direct structural peer in terms of CoC coordination, HMIS management, and HUD funding administration.
• Coalition for the Homeless (New York): A longstanding New York-based 501(c)(3) that operates direct shelters and conducts homelessness policy advocacy, holding a similar advocacy-and-system-coordination identity to CFTH. Comparable in mission, nonprofit legal form, and policy advocacy focus.

Broad incumbents

• Heartland Alliance: A Chicago-based human services nonprofit providing housing, healthcare, and advocacy for people facing poverty and homelessness. Comparable in nonprofit social-services orientation and systems-level intervention, though broader in scope beyond homelessness.
• National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH): A national nonprofit policy and research organization focused on ending homelessness across the U.S., providing training, research, and federal advocacy. Operates at a national scale that is broader than CFTH's regional focus, but overlaps in HUD engagement, research, and best-practice dissemination.

Emerging players

• Community Solutions: A national nonprofit that runs the Built for Zero initiative, working with cities and CoCs on data-driven methods to reduce and end homelessness. Directly comparable to CFTH in methodology emphasis on HMIS data, coordinated entry, and measurable reduction outcomes.

Regional players

• Ending Community Homelessness Coalition (ECHO) — Austin/Travis County: The lead agency for the Austin/Travis County Continuum of Care in Texas, performing the same CoC coordination role as CFTH but for the Austin region. Strong comparable given shared Texas geography, similar CoC governance role, and overlapping state-level policy environment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/homelessHOU
• Facebookfacebook.com/CFTHHouston
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/coalition-for-the-homeless-of-houston-harris-county
• Instagraminstagram.com/cfthhouston

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Coalition for the Homeless