Homelessness Services City of Dallas | Who We Are | City of Dallas: Office of Homeless Solutions

Our Mission

The mission of the Office of Homeless Solutions (OHS) is to positively impact the quality of life in the City of Dallas through innovative, collaborative, and comprehensive solutions to make homelessness brief and nonrecurring.

Our History

OHS was established on October 1, 2017, with the purpose of centralizing all City of Dallas services and programs related to homelessness. When created, the department was charged with identifying new and innovative solutions to address the very complex issue of homelessness. Consolidating formerly fragmented services like Street Outreach, Homelessness-focused Grants (Finance Division), Contract Administration, and Program Administration (Property Management, Volunteer Services, and Partnerships) into one functioning office has allowed OHS to become a successful, multifaceted department.

Our Connections

The Office of Homeless Solutions’ innovative strategies in the homelessness community combat the complexity of the issue through interdepartmental support and partnership with the larger community of service providers; led by the All Neighbors Coalition, the local Continuum of Care. With innovative and impactful solutions, we strive towards the communal goal of making homelessness in the City of Dallas brief and nonrecurring.

Our Financial Structure

OHS utilizes Federal, State, and City funding to create and run programming to help our unsheltered neighbors. Opportunities for established organizations and registered non-profits to utilize these funds can be found on Bonfire.

Since merging under one departmental umbrella, OHS has taken on many new initiatives such as working with Housing Forward, Dallas County, Dallas Housing Authority, and other key stakeholders to launch the Dallas R.E.A.L. Time Rapid Rehousing (DRTRR) Initiative, which is on track to house over 2,700 unsheltered neighbors by the end of 2023. The City and its partners now have a new goal of housing 6,000 unique individuals by 2025 and have rebranded the initiative to reflect the rehousing of those individuals across the expanse of the metroplex to R.E.A.L. Time Rehousing (RTR).

Become a Partner

Homelessness is a community issue that takes mass participation to tackle. Offer your skills and services by partnering with us today.

Learn More

Be The Solution

In 2021, OHS won a Telly Award in the Branded Content – Public Interest / Awareness category for our “Be the Solution” video, which we invite you to watch below.

Director

Christine Crossley

Director of the Office of Homeless Solutions

Christine Crossley has served as the Director of the Office of Homeless Solutions since March of 2021. During her tenure with the City of Dallas, she has successfully solidified the City’s partnerships within the local Continuum of Care (CoC) and stood up several initiatives, including the Dallas R.E.A.L. Time Rapid Rehousing (DRTRR) initiative, which aims to house 2,700+ unsheltered individuals by September of 2023.

She previously served as the Division Director for several programs at Catholic Community Services of Western Washington, where she directed the largest rental subsidy and homeless services program, Housing and Essential Needs, in Washington State, for King County, the Low-Income Fare Transit program, and a Shallow Rent Subsidy pilot program, overseeing an annual budget of $22M+ and 2,000+ clients. Working with other state and local policy groups, Director Crossley developed strategies, delivered expert testimony, and lobbied for bills at the State level. Prior to this, Christine worked in New York City, where she focused on worker’s rights at the Cornell Worker Institute and women and children’s rights at the United Nations Population Foundation. Christine received a Master of Science degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science with a concentration in Human Rights and International Politics.

Contact Us

Leadership

Director: Christine Crossley

Street Outreach Manager: Lisa Rand