Homelessness

Today is the first day of Texas' 89th Legislative session; lawmakers will vote to fill the role of Speaker of the Texas House, with Lubbock’s Dustin Burrows and David Cook from Mansfield seemingly leading the race for that seat. Our reporter Bishop Van Buren has more on the upcoming Point-In-Time homelessness count later this month. The South Plains Homeless Consortium and the Texas Homeless Network are holding a training session for those interested in volunteering from noon to 1 P.M. at Monterey Church of Christ’s Fireside Room.

A new approach to helping people living on the streets find permanent housing called decommissioning is giving new hope to the homeless in Dallas.

Texas state senators vowed to strengthen anti-squatting laws when lawmakers reconvene in Austin next year. That follows an interim hearing Wednesday on the issue, which lawmakers say is a growing problem in the state.

A local nonprofit is partnering with Texas Tech medical students to provide free medical care for people in Lubbock experiencing homelessness. In Dallas and Collin Counties, KERA's Christopher Connelly has more on a major initiative launched with federal pandemic relief funds helping more than 2,700 unhoused people move into homes of their own in the last two years.