The Houston Endowment has announced grants totaling $15 million to four local organizations working to reduce homelessness.

Grants were awarded to Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County ($10 million); SEARCH Homeless Services, ($3 million); The Beacon, ($1 million); and U.S.VETS, ($1 million). The organizations are part of The Way Home, a coordinated homeless response system that began in 2012 and has brought together more than 100 public, private, nonprofit, and philanthropic organizations in the Houston area to move the needle on reducing homelessness by putting the most vulnerable people into permanent housing with supportive wraparound services. Since its inception, the system has moved more than 28,000 people into permanent housing, resulted in a more than a 60 percent decrease in overall homelessness in just over a decade, and reduced reliance on costly jail or emergency room visits for people in crisis.

“We want Houston to be the first major metropolitan area in the U.S. to end chronic homelessness,” said Houston Endowment president and CEO Ann B. Stern. “We hope these dollars can supercharge the transformational work already being done by all the organizations involved, but our investment alone is not enough. We need the continued partnership and support of the city of Houston, Harris County, and business and philanthropic sectors to reach this ambitious goal. Let’s not settle for maintaining the status quo. Let’s continue to model what can be accomplished when you build coalitions across the public and private sectors—real, impactful change for Houston and its people.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Phil Augstavo)