Dallas City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Solutions Committee meets Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 9 a.m. in the Council Chambers to examine the city’s next year of funding for The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center and to review the operations of Dallas Street Response and the City Action Strike Team.
Bridge facility‑management contract
The agenda’s largest item is a proposed $5.1475 million facility‑management agreement with Bridge Steps, the nonprofit that runs The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center downtown. The contract would exercise the fourth and final one‑year renewal option on the existing agreement.
The annual management fee under the proposal is $4.519 million. In addition, the city would allocate $328,500 for pay‑to‑stay shelter beds and $300,000 to the facility‑management agreement, bringing the total General Fund‑backed amount to $5.1475 million. Funding would come from the city’s General Fund and remains subject to the annual appropriations process.
City records show the figure should not be read as a straight increase over last year’s funding. In September 2025, Dallas authorized up to $5.9169 million for the agreement when a Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs grant was included. Of that amount, $5.1475 million came from the General Fund – the same amount proposed for the upcoming contract year.
Service capacity at The Bridge
The Bridge is one of Dallas’ largest shelters, offering overnight beds, meals, showers, case management and connections to medical and mental‑health services. The Dallas Express reported that the center served 6,350 unique individuals in fiscal year 2023, 7,234 in fiscal year 2024, and was on pace to serve as many as 8,000 people by May 2025.
City officials note that a decline in visible encampments downtown does not necessarily mean fewer people need shelter and supportive services across the city.
Street‑Response and City Action Strike Team
Kevin Oden, director of Emergency Management and Crisis Response, will brief council members on Dallas Street Response and the City Action Strike Team. Dallas Street Response coordinates city personnel responding to people experiencing homelessness and other street‑level conditions. The program has been providing regular outcome reports to the committee; at the August meeting, Oden presented results for June and July.
The City Action Strike Team is used as a coordinated response to locations with concentrated public‑safety, quality‑of‑life and homelessness‑related concerns. Tuesday’s presentation will outline how the two operations function together.
Recent changes to city responsibilities
In October 2025, the City Council unanimously approved a “Good Neighbor Agreement” that returned responsibility for street cleanup and conditions within a two‑block area around The Bridge to the city. Previously, The Bridge had handled cleanup and outreach beyond its property. The shift places the city back in charge of the surrounding streets while The Bridge remains responsible for its immediate perimeter.
Additional homelessness contracts
The committee will also review several other contracts:
- A $255,000 proposal for homeless‑diversion services for three organizations, covering Oct. 1, 2026 through Sept. 30, 2027.
- A $250,000 award to Catholic Charities of Dallas for supportive services for seniors experiencing homelessness, increasing the cumulative contract amount to $750,000.
- A preview of a $125,899 rapid‑rehousing agreement with Bridge Steps, slated for City Council consideration on Oct. 14.
Dallas County has separately committed up to $1.3 million for homeless‑assistance services at The Bridge for the Oct. 2026‑Sept. 2027 period.
Context on downtown homelessness counts
In October 2025, a count identified 30 people experiencing homelessness in the Central Business District, down from a peak of 411 on Feb. 3, 2024. Housing Forward’s Street To Home Initiative has helped rehouse more than 7,400 people since July 2024, including nearly 277 from downtown encampments.
City officials emphasize that these downtown figures do not represent the total number of people experiencing homelessness across Dallas.
Next steps
The full City Council will consider the $5.1475 million Bridge facility‑management agreement, the $255,000 homeless‑diversion contracts and the $250,000 Catholic Charities award on Wednesday, Sept. 23. The two‑day sequence brings together the city’s street‑response strategy and funding for shelter and supportive‑service providers, reflecting Dallas’ ongoing effort to address homelessness with both immediate assistance and longer‑term housing solutions.
Original reporting: The Dallas Express — read the source article.
