WACO, TX — The City of Waco is contracting with Prosper Waco to administer the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS).
HMIS is a federally funded program that will track the homeless population in Waco along with finding out what their needs are to a better day-today life.
Prosper Waco is a data driven organization that will help identify the need and work with other organizations to provide for the homeless population in Waco.
The Heart of Texas Homeless Coalition has calculated that there are 234 people experiencing housing instability. Raynesha Hudnell the interim Community Services Director says that's 234 too many.
"We are a population of 130,000 but however they still do matter there still is a percentage," Hudnell said.
Someone experiencing housing instability can be from anyone couch surfing, needing rental assistance, living in a shelter or no shelter at all.
Hudnell says with certain programs those who need the help can access it easily.
"I think it's very important to show that we are working with the community addressing some of those issues," Hudnell said.
At the end of the day, the homeless population are apart of the same community as everyone else and it's important for everyone to work together to provide a place that all of us want to live.
Prosper Waco is excited to take on this new task, their mission for all their work is to build an environment in which all members of our Waco community are able to measurably improve their education, health and financial security.
"We are proud to begin this new responsibility to provide data coordination for the City of Waco,” said Suzii Paynter March, CEO of Prosper Waco. “We have experience and expertise in handling data but do not provide direct social services.”
This project is set to begin in January of 2021, the HMIS federally funded grant came to a total of $62,653 and is a annual renewal grant.
During the pandemic, the City of Waco has been able to grant approximately $262,500 in Covid-19 relief for the homeless population.
To learn more about the HMIS system the Heart of Texas Homeless Coalition website. You can also read about many myths and facts of the homeless population here.
