ODESSA, Texas — Homelessness is a problem everywhere, but in Midland it's different.
Non-profits in the area know our homeless population personally and are working to make a diffrence.
"It's a very, very different you know mid-size, smaller town than it is in a larger city, which also is an advantage for us because it's much more personal assistance for us to know all of our homeless population by name and how they like their coffee," John-Mark Echols said.
His three year old non-profit The Field's Edge is equipping Midland's homeless population with long term solutions and tools, such as housing, behavior and physical health care and jobs.
Echols, CEO of the non-profit, said his company aims to consider each individual and decide how to lift them up.
"We believe that work is restorative and dignifying and so it's part of what we want to empower our neighbors to be able to do," Echols said.
They are building 100 single occupant homes, starting with 10, breaking ground in June 2020 and finishing in June 2021.
The people housed there will have to pay rent, but The Field's Edge equips them with opportunity for employment as well.
In Odessa, the non-profit Odessa Links offers referrals to places with homeless housing. They also offer a service called Project Hope that rapidly rehouses homeless families and a lift program that offers 31-day bus passes into town.
