The homeless population in Sherman, Texas, has increased by approximately 260% over the past three years. The count increased from 174 to 599 due to rapid growth and the intersection of urban and rural areas colliding. With growth comes local responsibility and advocacy for all community members. Many individuals in Sherman lack access to safe shelter, food, and essential needs. It is crucial that community leaders in Sherman take direct responsibility and utilize the funds provided by the Community Development Block Grant, rather than adopting a fragmented approach to distribute the funds, which would essentially help the homeless.    
 
From a systems theory perspective, the allocation of funds provided by the Community Development Block Grant uses a fragmented approach to address urgent needs. The funding is allocated to support existing specialized services rather than providing sustainable interventions to the larger issue. For example, an article states, “Part of the problem, of course, is that there is no one decision maker responsible for implementing society’s approach to the needs of the unhoused. Society’s response to the problem of homelessness is the product of the collective choices of tens of thousands of individual decision-makers at all levels of government, each of whom is accountable to a different constituency and responsible for only a tiny slice of the government’s response” (Ponomarenko, 2022). The funds are dispersed and provided to temporary services that are limited to domestic violence survivors, families with children, and young men, not the general public. From a systems theory perspective, the lack of integration hinders the system's ability to adapt and provides a less holistic approach.  Furthermore,  local churches, shelters, and organizations do their best to support the homeless individuals, but often report operating over full capacity in their facilities, leaving many individuals without options.  This fragmented model highlights the gaps in the delivery system, resulting in broken integration and vulnerabilities within the system.  
 
The city of Sherman has repeatedly cleared land and homeless camps but given no other alternatives to the unsheltered, leaving them exposed to the elements, and maintaining a cycle of displacement among these communities.  The goal is to influence the local government to take direct responsibility by utilizing the Community Development Block Grant to build a homeless shelter for the city of Sherman, Texas. It is imperative that local community officials take responsibility for the issue directly from their office, rather than shifting the responsibility to small nonprofits.