Homeless still sleeping on grounds of City Hall week after super hub opens

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Houston's new homeless super hub opened last week in East Downtown, yet some say they've seen no noticeable changes.

On Monday afternoon, Eyewitness News spotted around a dozen people sleeping on the benches along the City Hall reflection pool while one man wandered the grounds of City Hall screaming obscenities at passersby.

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"This being City Hall, I guess that is a little eye-opening, right, that it's here out in the open for everyone to see," said Aurelia, who's visiting Houston with her family from Michigan.

Last summer, the city passed a 24/7 sidewalk-sleeping ban in downtown and the East End. Yet Monday, Eyewitness News found person after person sleeping on sidewalks in broad daylight, including at the Pierce Elevated and Fannin.

Despite the opening of the new super hub, there was still a sizeable homeless population at the corner of Main and Holman.

"Look around, and we still out here on the streets. What does that tell you?" said Anthony Harper. "If y'all built something brand new, it should at least house these few people."

According to the Coalition for the Homeless, Harris County had 3,000 people without homes in 2025.

The homeless hub, with a capacity of 222, would only be able to house a fraction of that.

Still, many of Houston's homeless say they're not even getting offers.

"Has anyone from the city come by and offered you guys a place to stay?" Eyewitness News asked a man camped outside City Hall.

"Nope," he replied.

The Harris Center for Mental Health, which runs the new facility, told Eyewitness News that it's not currently accepting walk-ins and that guests have to be dropped off by law enforcement.

As of Monday, a spokesperson said the facility was housing over 100 people.

Tauresha Thomas spends her days at a gas station on the corner of Fannin and Webster, even though she says she now lives in a government-subsidized apartment.

"That's it. No bed, no clothes, no nothing, so I come out here because that's where I can - this is where I can get those things," Thomas said.

Sure enough, Eyewitness News saw a woman handing out food at the gas station Monday afternoon.

No one was offered shelter, but even had they been, Thomas doubts they'd have accepted it.

"They have to want. They don't," she said.

About 40% of people offered shelter declined during a recent housing surge, according to figures from the Coalition for the Homeless.

The city released a statement Monday emphasizing that its homeless hub is part of a long-term effort to combat homelessness and that it wasn't spurred on by the arrival of the World Cup.

"This facility will operate before, during, and after the World Cup and is part of a larger strategic plan to reduce street homelessness in Houston," the statement read.

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