Housing First makes housing last. This philosophy is based on one simple idea: the answer to homelessness is a place to call home.
OUTREACH: Service access for unsheltered individuals and families
The DRC Street Outreach team locates individuals and families experiencing unsheltered homelessness, completes assessments for housing, helps them gather documentation required for housing program eligibility, and connects them with individual-appropriate housing interventions.
PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING: Availability, placement, and case management
The DRC provides ongoing case management for people who are living in Permanent Supportive Housing options, whether site-based or scattered-site housing.
CRITICAL DOCUMENTS: Providing identity
The DRC helps people experiencing homelessness replace identity documents, such as driver's licenses, state-issued identification cards, Social Security cards, birth certificates, and others, opening doors to housing, employment, and more.
HOUSING NAVIGATION: Locating appropriate housing options
DRC Housing Navigators work with households assigned to housing assistance programs through the Tarrant County Homeless Coalition by assisting in locating appropriate options and walking with them all the way to move-in day.
A gift of $25 can cover apartment application fees, bringing the hope of home to reality after years on the streets.
A gift of $50 can stock a new kitchen for people who have gone hungry so many times.
A gift of $100 can provide new clothing to people who have lived in the same worn and dirty clothes for too long.
A gift of $250 can help provide furniture and household supplies to welcome people to their new homes-warm, clean, and safe.
THE SOLUTION TO HOMELESSNESS IS A HOME.
Regardless of the past. Regardless of the present.
And that's why everything we do is organized around the philosophy of Housing First.
BECAUSE HOUSING FIRST MAKES HOUSING LAST.
MISSION
The mission of the DRC is to provide respectful, responsible, and effective community-based solutions to help individuals and families emerge from homelessness as productive, healthy people.
VISION
The DRC envisions an end to homelessness achieved through investments that make permanent shelter a reality for all who need it.
PHILOSOPHY
The DRC believes that Housing First makes housing last.
Tarrant County is experiencing an unprecedented number of people experiencing homelessness.
According to the Tarrant County Homeless Coalition (TCHC), of which DRC Solutions is a partner agency, the nadir happened in April of 2020, when approximately 530 households (individuals, couples, and families) were experiencing homelessness in our community. Pandemic-era eviction moratoria and rental assistance staved off homelessness for many.
With the lifting of moratoria, people began to lose their housing. By December 31, 2022, almost 5,000 households had been without a permanent place to live at some point during the year, up 38% over 2019. While Tarrant County is making great strides housing the chronically homeless; simultaneously, new households are becoming homeless at an alarming rate.
Since 2019, the percentage of families with children experiencing homelessness has doubled, from 5% of the total population of people without homes to 10%, with real numbers increasing 176%, from 178 to 492. Actual number of children has increased from 11.9% to 13% of the homeless population, with real numbers increasing 51%, from 424 to 639.
Additionally, the percentage of senior citizens on our streets has increased from 7% to 9%, with real numbers increasing 78%, from 249 to 443.
Our most vulnerable citizens are languishing on the streets.
(Visit https://ahomewithhope.org/knowthefacts/ for additional information.)
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, no state in the Union has adequate available and affordable housing options for low income households. In the DFW Metroplex, there are 197,003 extremely low income households, with only 38,785 affordable rental units, just 20 rental units available for every 100 extremely low income households.
(Visit https://nlihc.org/gap/state/tx for additional information.)
TCHC reports that for five years, the top two reasons people gave for why they have become homeless have been consistent: lack income and an inability to pay rent.
When people have no other place to go, they go to the streets.
And when they go to the streets, taxpayers foot the bill.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law Texas House Bill 1925 on June 15, 2021, and it took effect on September 1, 2021. HB1925 makes camping in an unapproved public place by people experiencing homelessness a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $500 and/or arrest.
Consequently, in 2022, Fort Worth Policed HOPE Unit responded to 1,612 camping complaints and worked 5,613 calls just in the East Lancaster area. City of Fort Worth Code Compliance cleaned up 516 camps and discarded 1,291,435 lbs of trash—nearly 646 tons. When camps are cleaned up but people have no place else to go, they simply find another place to camp, and the cycle starts again.
Homelessness also negatively affects our county hospital system, our ambulance system, and our public libraries.
In all of these areas, public resources are spent mitigating homelessness instead of solving it.
The solution to homelessness is a home.
CHALLENGE
Often, the campsites the DRC Street Outreach team frequents are in deep wooded areas, parks, and fields not easily accessed without off-road capability. DRC Street Outreach team members’ personal vehicles are not equipped to handle the wear and tear that off-road adventures present.
NEED
The DRC Street Outreach team is in desperate need of a new or late model 4WD mid-sized truck with an automatic transmission.
A vehicle with off-road capability will make the team more efficient and will allow for greater coverage of homeless encampments across our community. Additionally, having a DRC-owned vehicle will alleviate any liability encountered by staff members using personal vehicles.
DRC’s goal is to provide equal access to housing for our unsheltered neighbors. Having a vehicle that can cover more ground will advance this goal. A team vehicle will also have a positive impact by allowing for transportation of individuals and families to their lease signing on the big day when they move into their new home.
DRC Solutions is committed to fostering, cultivating and preserving a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion. We strive to build a team of diverse individuals who together as one team, intentionally seek to foster inclusiveness so that we can all perform and operate at our very best for the benefit of each other, the team, the company, and our customers.
The collective sum of the individual differences, background and life experiences, education and knowledge, inventiveness, innovation, self-expression, unique capabilities and talent that our employees invest in their work represents a significant part of not only our culture, but our reputation and company’s achievement as well.
We embrace and encourage our employees’ differences in age, color, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, citizenship, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and other characteristics that make our employees unique.
With a diverse team comes the desire to drive inclusiveness as well, so that we all can engage and perform at our very best, and a commitment from the company to create an equitable work environment for all employees.
DRC Solutions’ diversity initiatives are applicable—but not limited—to our practices and policies on recruitment and selection; compensation and benefits; professional development and training; promotions; transfers; social and recreational programs; layoffs; terminations; and the ongoing development of a work environment built on the premise of gender and diversity equity that encourages and enforces:
• Respectful communication and cooperation between all employees.
• Teamwork and employee participation, permitting the representation of all groups and employee perspectives.
• Work/life balance through flexible work schedules to accommodate employees’ varying needs.
• Employer and employee contributions to the communities we serve to promote a greater understanding and respect for diversity.
All employees of DRC Solutions have a responsibility to treat others with dignity and respect at all times. All employees are expected to exhibit conduct that reflects inclusion during work, at work functions on or off the work site, and at all other company-sponsored and participative events. All employees are also required to attend and complete annual diversity awareness training to enhance their knowledge to fulfill this responsibility.
Any employee found to have exhibited any inappropriate conduct or behavior against others may be subject to disciplinary action.
Employees who believe they have been subjected to any kind of discrimination that conflicts with the company’s diversity policy and initiatives should seek assistance from a supervisor or an HR representative.
Organization name
DRC
Causes
Housing, Shelter & Homelessness
Operating Budget
$1,000,000 - $2,999,999
Counties Served
Tarrant
BIPOC Serving
Black or African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic or Latinx, Native American, Other
Address
PO Box 0871