Who We Are
OUR MISSION
The Path Home seeks to collaboratively lead and coordinate efforts that prevent homelessness, increase housing stabilization, and make homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring in Denton County through advocacy, resource mobilization, and community engagement.
WHAT WE DO
The Path Home’s programming largely supports local nonprofits and community members through mobilization, advocacy, and collaborative efforts.
How it all Began…
In August 2025, following nearly a year of discussion and feedback with local nonprofits, municipalities, partners, and community members involved in the Denton County Homeless Coalition, The Path Home was officially created! That first year we were hard at work, waiting for State and Federal nonprofit status, recruiting Board Members, creating a new logo and brand, building a new website and a future based on what our members told us they needed out of The Path Home.
What is the local homeless coalition?
A Coalition is composed of representatives from non-profit agencies, municipalities, school districts and other engaged stakeholders. The Path Home was formed out of the Denton County Homeless Coalition and continues it’s commitment to Denton County having a local homeless coalition through the tenants of support we provide. Our commitment guides us to collaboratively connect community resources and encourage innovations for continuous improvement to serve households experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness. We work in collaboration with the lead entity, the Texas Homeless Network (THN), for the Continuum of Care (CoC) planning process. THN oversees the Texas Balance of State CoC and Denton County is one of 214 counties within this CoC. We host a general meeting for all members and residents to collaborate and communicate at on the last Wednesday of each month at 9 AM in alternating Denton and Lewisville locations. Join us anytime!
Current Strategic Plan
In 2023 the Denton County Homeless Coalition sought feedback from members to create it’s first Strategic Plan in 2024. This plan was to be connected to the Denton County Housing and Homelessness Leadership Team’s most recent plan as the Coalition was a workgroup at that time. When creating The Path Home from the communities interest, The Path Home agreed to continue the current Strategic Plan through it’s original dates of 2024-2028.
Current Goals:
Maintain and expand annual Point in Time (PIT) Count efforts.
Strengthen residents’ connection with housing and homelessness efforts.
Increase funding available to residents seeking to overcome barriers to gaining and maintaining housing.
Ensure access to information for the general community, including Coalition associates and members.
Board of Directors
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Abbi, like many Denton residents, moved here to attend good ol' UNT. During college, she worked as a bartender at Denton County Brewing Company and met so many amazing people in the Denton service industry. After graduating, she began working at Denton County Friends of the Family as an advocate where she remains to this day as their Assistant Director of Advocacy. Her work with survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault as well as her experience in the service industry gave her a unique lense to the struggles that Dentonites experience. She's hopeful about the work The Path Home does and is grateful to serve those struggling with housing in a more meaningful way.
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Brenda is a native Dentonite. She and her husband have two dogs that they treat like they are their children. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and has been working in the field for roughly 20 years. She has worked for various Denton County nonprofits and is now at Texas Health Resources Denton. Because of her love of Denton and passion for helping those in need, she is proud to support The Path Home and joined the Board in 2026.
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With a passion for ending homelessness, Elena is a community advocate with extensive leadership experience in housing policy, federal grant administration, and cross-sector coalition management across Denton County. She currently works for the City of Lewisville’s Neighborhood Services Department and prior to becoming the Board President of The Path Home, lead county wide collective impact initiatives as the Chair of the Denton County Homeless Coalition. Elena has held several leadership roles locally in Denton County nonprofits and has worked in social services for over a decade on City, County, and State level organizations. She brings expertise in public-private partnerships, federal compliance, and thoughtful community development to our board governance. Elena and her husband live in the heart of Denton County with their 2 rambunctious pups.
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Gary has been a barber in Denton for almost 20 years and owns Barnhart's Barbershop on the square in downtown Denton. He believe in a housing first approach to solving homeless and with the efforts and partnerships of The Path Home, he believes we can make homelessness rare, brief and non reoccurring in Denton County. Gary is also the co-founder and president of Deep in the Heart of Denton, a non-profit organization providing after school community enrichment program with a focus on literacy beyond the classroom for DISD students in the Title 1 program. Denton is home to him, his wife, and their three children, and he is excited to be part of something that will have a positive impact on our community.
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Liz Emerson has been working with housing and homelessness since she began her career in social work in the Denton community in 2009. Liz is a Licensed Clinical Social Work Supervisor and has worked with Veterans over the last decade with a pilot program she worked on with United Way Denton County that is now fully funded under Denton County. Liz also enjoys art and riding bikes and helped found a therapeutic art program for Veterans in 2023 locally.
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Meegan serves as the Director of Philanthropy for Habitat for Humanity of Collin County, where she builds relationships and secures philanthropic support to help families achieve stability through affordable homeownership. With three decades of executive leadership experience across the nonprofit, corporate, and public sectors, she holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Marketing and Management from the University of North Texas and an Associate of Applied Science in Paralegal Studies from Dallas College.
Meegan serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater Dallas Chapter, where she chairs the IDEA Committee and serves on both the FORGE and Membership Committees. She also serves on the Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas Dallas Community Board and its Black-Tie Committee. Her commitment to The Path Home reflects her belief that housing stability is foundational to stronger individuals, families, and communities.
Meegan and her wife, Brenda, live in Denton, Texas, and she is the proud mother of adult twin daughters, appropriately known as “The Wonder Twins.”
The Board of Directors meet monthly on the last Thursday of each month at 4 PM.
Our History
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2001
Denton County Homeless Coalition was formed as a grass roots collaborative to support the local homelessness Continuum of Care.
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2005
Planned and hosted the first Point in Time Count in Denton County to understand better what homelessness looked like locally and begin data driven decision making and funding requests to support our neighbors.
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2012
Strategically joined the Texas Balance of State Continuum of Care to increase regional collaboration and funding opportunities for Denton County.
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2015
City of Denton lead a homelessness task force to understand what local gaps were to strategize for stronger system supports.
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2016
The Denton County Homelessness Leadership Team (DCHLT) was formed to enact system level change to make homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring in Denton County.
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2018
Denton County Barriers Fund created with support from City of Denton, City of Lewisville, and local community supporters to help households overcome barriers and gain or maintain housing with a maximum of $1,000 per household. United Way of Denton County acted as the fiscal agent of this fund as DCHC was not a formalized nonprofit at this time.
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2019
Denton County Homeless Coalition shifted to be a workgroup under DCHLT to support formalized strategies.
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2024
Denton County Homeless Coalition members began discussing the interest in the Coalition becoming an independent nonprofit to support current needs and prepare for the future of homelessness services. Members collaboratively created a 5-year strategic plan to support system improvements.
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2025
Exploration Committee was created with members within the Coalition to explore needs locally to understand what the future of a formalized nonprofit would be, emphasizing filling identified gaps ensuring no duplication of current services or efforts. Following determination Board formation and federal/state filings were completed.
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2026
The launch of The Path Home! Supporting the Local Homeless Coalition is its grounding community service, while diving into education and advocacy needs and the continual support of the PIT Count and Barriers Fund.