The nation’s fourth-largest city hasn’t solved homelessness, but its remarkable progress can suggest a way forward.

One steamy morning last July, Ana Rausch commandeered a shady corner of a parking lot on the northwest side of Houston. Downing a jumbo iced coffee, she issued brisk orders to a dozen outreach workers toting iPads. Her attention was fixed on a highway underpass nearby, where a handful of people were living in tents and cardboard lean-tos. As a vice president of Houston’s Coalition for the Homeless, Ms. Rausch was there to move them out.

Listen or read the complete article by Michael Kimmelman on The New York Times.

An outreach worker talking to a woman in downtown Houston in April. Finding housing for people starts by gathering information.Credit…Christopher Lee for The New York Times