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Homelessness

Harwin Project May Reduce Flooding and Traffic, Remove Homeless Encampment

Harwin Project May Reduce Flooding and Traffic, Remove Homeless Encampment

"Whenever it rains, we flood right here." Billie Parker points to a parking lot between several warehouses on the map. "I can't even step out our front door because of the flooding." She's general manager at New Era Products, one of many

Climbing off the Streets: How Two Sharpstown Men Are Trying to Escape Homelessness

Climbing off the Streets: How Two Sharpstown Men Are Trying to Escape Homelessness

Few would guess that one of the biggest barriers to getting off the streets is often a little plastic card—or, rather, the lack of one. Since December 2023, I've been following Dale Malone, 59, and Leroy Conner, 64, on their quest to move out from under a

Climbing off the Streets, Part 8: Good News and Growth

Climbing off the Streets, Part 8: Good News and Growth

Dale Malone walked across the Southwest Freeway frontage road, holding a white Styrofoam cup out to the cars waiting at the stoplight. Before the light turned green, he trudged back to the safety of the curb, sank to his knees, and lay on his back on the concrete walkway under

Climbing off the Streets, Part 7: Re-entering Society Is a Marathon with Hurdles

Climbing off the Streets, Part 7: Re-entering Society Is a Marathon with Hurdles

Dale Malone has been waiting for the hard copy of his driver’s license for nearly three months. It’s one of the many obstacles he must clear in his journey to get off the streets, which is less of a sprint and more of a marathon with hurdles. But

Climbing off the Streets, Part 6: The Waiting Game

Climbing off the Streets, Part 6: The Waiting Game

On the afternoon of Sunday, February 11, Dale Malone and I pull up to the Gulfton convenience store where Leroy Conner now works as a security guard. The friends haven’t seen each other since a chance meeting at the Social Security office a week and a half earlier. But

Climbing off the Streets, Part 5: One Step Closer

Climbing off the Streets, Part 5: One Step Closer

"I was here earlier and I needed one more document to get my stuff done," says Dale Malone, 59, to a male employee inside the front door of the Rosenberg DPS. Dale is trying to get a replacement copy of his driver's license—his gateway to

Climbing off the Streets, Part 4: How Hard Can It Be to Get an ID?

Climbing off the Streets, Part 4: How Hard Can It Be to Get an ID?

"I'm never gonna get a license. I knew it." Dale Malone bends forward in the plastic chair, hands flat on the edge of the DPS desk. The black-haired woman behind it has just told him that management wouldn’t accept his METRO disability ID card as