As Homelessness Reports Rise Across Dallas, New Efforts Downtown Could Buck The Trend
Reports of homelessness to the City of Dallas' 311 line rose 45 percent in three years, according to Fox 4. But Mark Nunneley, chief accounting officer for Ashford Hospitality Trust, told The Dallas Express recent could help downtown counter the trend.
Nunneley compiles frequent homeless counts and reports for downtown Dallas and shared the latest report for the Central Business District with The Dallas Express.
The latest report showed that homelessness has fallen from recent highs earlier this year. Homelessness peaked at 266 in late February and 209 in late March but fell to 138 in April—though it increased slightly to 158 in May. Most cases occurred in south-central downtown, near St. Paul St. and I-30.
Downtown Dallas Inc. – which oversees the Dallas Downtown Improvement District – joined the City of Dallas and Dallas Citizens Council last month to launch Safe In The City, as The Dallas Express reported at the time.
Safe In The City operates on a 'six-point plan for sustained public safety': higher policing, higher security coordination, more 'rehousing,' an expanded community court, 'de-magnetiz[ing]' homeless hotspots, and expanding 'reentry.'
DDI also launched its app several years ago, letting users report 'non-emergency issues' to the 'Downtown Security, Homeless Outreach, and Clean Team.' The app lets residents submit reports and pictures of incidents downtown and text tips to 972-440-1995.
According to Nunneley, the See Say app has recently brought promising results. He has used it multiple times to report homeless encampments downtown.
'Every time I've done that, within three or four minutes, the DDI security people are showing up and addressing it,' Nunneley said. 'Sometimes it's like – literally – they're blocks away, and they're there within a minute.'
Nunneley said he had used See Say 'all over the downtown area,' including behind the convention center, near Dallas City Hall, and along Cadiz St. and Corsicana St.
See Say responders are limited to downtown property – so they cannot resolve issues on city or private property, according to Nunneley. For example, if an encampment was on public library property, they could not remove it.
When Nunneley calls 311, the response is 'not immediate,' he said – though 'they are working on trying to improve that.'
Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn expressed frustration with Dallas' broader citywide homeless response. As The Dallas Express reported, Mendelsohn is an advocate for homeless reform.
'The residents are so fed up, and they are fed up of hearing homelessness is decreasing when they see it every single day,' Mendelsohn said recently, according to Fox 4. 'They report it, it gets closed and it does not get addressed. These are people who truly need help and it's not happening.'
The Dallas Morning News reported that homelessness was down 5% across Dallas and Collin counties since 2024, citing the point-in-time (PIT) count. But, as The Dallas Express reported, PIT counts in places like California sometimes fail to capture reality.
Homelessness in cities surrounding Dallas has risen significantly, as The Dallas Express previously reported. The estimated annual cost of homelessness to Dallas taxpayers is $193 million.
The Dallas Express got in touch with DDI, but the group did not comment in time for publication.
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