Blue Impact Grant Awarded to Healthconnect Texas, Strengthening Housing Access in Houston

Funding from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas will help the statewide health information exchange streamline connections to housing, healthcare, and social services for vulnerable populations across Greater Houston.

HOUSTON, June 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Leaders from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas convened at Healthconnect Texas headquarters this month to mark a significant investment in the future of community health and housing stability in Texas. Through awarding the 2026 Blue Impact℠ Grant, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas recognized Healthconnect Texas, the Texas statewide health information exchange, and its role in leading a transformative effort to strengthen how Texans access critical stabilization resources across Greater Houston. The funding from the Blue Impact Grant will kick off a multi-year effort to strengthen how the region responds to homelessness by improving how people are connected to services. By linking Healthconnect Texas's vast community referral network with partner Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County's local homeless response system The Way Home, the initiative will make it easier for families in Greater Houston to access the right support faster, with better coordination across organizations.

"As Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas approaches a century of serving communities across the state, we understand how much the places people live and work impact their health," said Jim Springfield, President of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. "We're pleased to support organizations like Healthconnect Texas that are expanding access to affordable, healthy housing. Their work is helping create safer, more connected communities across Texas."

This effort prioritizes connecting people to critical, everyday supports such as food, healthcare, behavioral health services, and employment assistance, ensuring they are not left without resources during that transition period. Progress will be reflected in stronger access to these wraparound services and meaningful improvements in individual well-being, stability, and self-sufficiency over time.

The project represents the practical impact of interoperability to address non-medical drivers of health in Texas. By bringing partners onto a shared, connected infrastructure, Healthconnect Texas and its partners aim to reduce fragmentation and enable more coordinated, data-driven responses to community needs, increasing the number of organizations actively coordinating care and expanding The Way Home's reach to more individuals across the region.

For individuals and families in Greater Houston, this improved connectivity means fewer barriers between identifying a need and receiving support. For community and healthcare providers, it means improved referral visibility, more complete data, reduced duplication, and greater insight into outcomes tied to the non-medical drivers of health.

"This initiative is about building the connective tissue between healthcare, housing, and community support systems," said Junaid Husain, Chief Executive Officer at Healthconnect Texas. "By integrating our data infrastructure with The Way Home, we're enabling partners to move beyond siloed referrals and toward a more coordinated, data-driven approach, connecting individuals with the wraparound services they need to achieve lasting stability."

At its core, this project addresses one of the most pressing challenges facing communities across Texas today: how to better align systems of care so people do not fall through the cracks. By strengthening referral pathways and enabling organizations to work together more seamlessly, the initiative advances a more responsive and equitable support system across Greater Houston. Success will be seen in broader partner participation, more timely and complete information sharing, faster connections to services, and ultimately, more people achieving stable housing with the support they need to sustain it, regardless of where they live or who they are. Over time, this effort may help Texas define a new standard for interoperability across the country, showing how integrated, community-wide collaboration can drive better housing and health outcomes at scale.

About Healthconnect Texas

Healthconnect Texas is the statewide health information exchange (HIE) and community information exchange (CIE) for Texas, serving more than 27 million Texans. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Healthconnect Texas integrates clinical and community data to strengthen care coordination, advance population-level insights, and support whole-person health across the state. Through secure data exchange, community referral infrastructure, analytics, and partner-driven technology solutions, Healthconnect Texas helps healthcare providers, social service organizations, public agencies, researchers, and funders work together to improve health outcomes for Texans.

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas — the only statewide, customer-owned health insurer in Texas — is the largest provider of health benefits in the state, working with more than 168,000 physicians and health care practitioners, and 550 hospitals to serve nearly eight million members in all 254 counties. BCBSTX is a Division of Health Care Service Corporation (which operates Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas). Health Care Service Corporation is a Mutual Legal Reserve Company and an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

About the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County

The Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County is a 501(c)3 nonprofit and the lead agency to The Way Home. Also known as the local homeless response system, The Way Home is made up of more than 100 partners — including homeless service agencies, local governments, public housing authorities, the local Veterans Affairs office, and other nonprofits and community stakeholders — and encompasses Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties, Texas. The partners of The Way Home work together to make homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring in our region.

SOURCE Healthconnect Texas