The Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County released the results of the 2026 Point-in-Time Count & Survey, which involves volunteers counting the number of individuals experiencing homelessness over three days across Fort Bend, Harris, and Montgomery counties.

This year's count took place in mid-February, with the results being released June 12.

The results are in: The report found that a total of 3,321 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night in February, with 2,051 being sheltered individuals and 1,270 being unsheltered individuals.

The majority of homeless individuals were accounted for in Harris County, with 53.9% of sheltered individuals and 35.8% of unsheltered individuals coming from the most populous county in Texas.

The numbers are consistent with the figures from the 2025 report, which showed that approximately 3,325 individuals were homeless across the three counties.

More information: Officials with the coalition also pointed out that this year's report expands beyond the PIT Count to include additional indicators such as year-round interactions with the homeless response system, housing stability outcomes and inflow.

Gov. Greg Abbott announced June 10 that three hospital systems across Texas would receive grant funding to increase access to lifesaving stroke care through mobile stroke units.

The setup: The 89th Texas Legislature appropriated $5 million to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to improve stroke outcomes statewide through mobile services, according to a June 10 news release.

That funding includes disbursing roughly $2.5 million across three hospital systems in fiscal year 2026 for new and expanded mobile stroke units, including allocating $750,000 to the Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston to expand its mobile stroke unit.

 Zooming in: The mobile stroke unit at Memorial Hermann kick-started in 2014 under the direction of Dr. James Grotta, according to the hospital's website. The unit became the first specialized ambulance for prehospital stroke treatment in the United States.

Since its launch in Houston, researchers have found that 53% of patients treated by a mobile stroke unit, or MSU, have made a complete recovery after three months.

Throughout the summer, the Houston Public Library will offer a variety of free classes and learning opportunities for adults looking to build their literacy skills in four key areas: basic literacy and English language learning, digital literacy, financial literacy and health literacy.

What you need to know: As part of the library system's efforts to increase literacy among Houston residents, the program will offer free education resources and classes from June through August, according to a June 2 news release.

The initiative will include offering free weekly GED preparation classes to help adults earn their high school equivalency credential. Per the release, weekly registration and assessment sessions will be available for individuals interested in the program.

"Adult literacy impacts every aspect of life, from employment and education to health and civic engagement," Samantha Shermann, chief program officer at the Wesley Community Center, said in the release. "By providing free, accessible learning opportunities, we are helping residents build skills that support long-term success."

Houston City College and Space Center Houston signed a memorandum of understanding June 9 aimed at exposing students to programs the center offers.

What it means: The agreement—which first came about a year-and-a-half ago when HCC Chancellor Margaret Ford Fisher met with Williams Harris, president and CEO of Space Center Houston—will give students access to NASA-level science, hands-on STEM workshops, interactive astronaut presentations
and immersive aerospace projects.

HCC Southwest President Michael Webster said the center has competitions, camps and training available, but they need students and participants to fill those activities, something HCC can easily provide.

What they're saying: “This partnership brings new opportunities to connect education, workforce development and real-world experiences,” Harris said. “Together, we can help learners develop skills, confidence and capabilities needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world.”

Next steps: Webster said there are plans for courses to take place this summer, but officials are still figuring out where they will take place within HCC.

As the 2026-27 school year nears, the number of people selected to participate in Texas’ education savings account program has topped 100,000.

The overview: To date, just over 102,000 students have been accepted into the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program, which gives families state funds to send their children to private schools or homeschool them.

However, being awarded funds does not mean a student is guaranteed to be able to use that money at a participating private school this fall.

Zooming in: Over 2,600 private schools have been approved to accept TEFA funding, per the state comptroller's office. State law does not require schools participating in the program to accept all interested families.

Next steps: Families accepted into the program have until July 15 to do one of the following:

• Confirm enrollment at a private school involved in the program
• Notify the state of their homeschooling plans
• Opt out of the program