One of my job's duties is to refer people in need to homeless services in the houston area.?

Question

My question is how do I help them personally, when personal contact is frowned upon by the coalition I work for?

Answer 1

Don’t over-step the boundaries your organization has mandated: they’re in place for a reason.

For every ten people who are decent and just looking for a hand-up, you’ll find one super-good con artist who would take you for everything you own. It’s not possible to differentiate between the two without forming a deeper relationship, and it’s not possible to form that relationship without putting yourself at risk.

If this really troubles you, make for yourself a binder of available community services, such as food banks, and develop a list of staff contacts within those organizations. Should you find someone in desperate need of help, you can then properly refer them to other services in addition to housing.

Answer 2

you refer them to housing that's how you help them personally,  you're new aren't you?  street people are manipulative, maintain good boundaries, its called professionalism.