Tag: Homelessness

Housing First Model for Homelessness?

Is it time to start thinking differently about homelessness?  There’s a broad spectrum of approaches and opinions surrounding homelessness in the US and its assumed you are somewhere on that continuum.  The Veteran’s Administration and Barack Obama have declared to end veteran homelessness by 2015, although results and progress remain to be seen.  What if …

Continue reading

Share

The Homelessness Series: Whose Story is Really Being Told?

In an appearance at the Washington, D.C., Politics and Prose bookstore, Ehrenreich informed an adoring audience that previous attempts she’d made to pitch books about poverty to magazine and book editors had most commonly met with failure. Poverty wasn’t interesting to their readers, the editors had told her. This book, she said, was different; it …

Continue reading

Share

The Homelessness Series: Andre’s Story

Social justice, good. Charity, bad. At least that’s always been my philosophy. It’s simple. Straightforward. Easy to follow. Maybe that’s the problem. This personal philosophy first developed sometime around my sophomore year in college. After participating in several break trips, and spending a lot of time reflecting on systemic social problems and injustices, I grew …

Continue reading

Share

The Homelessness Series: Back on My Feet

Anne Mahlum is a runner. Always has been. And in the early mornings of spring 2007, you could often find her running the sidewalks of Philadelphia, before heading to work for the day. On her runs, she would pass apartment buildings, businesses, and even a homeless shelter, which was just a couple blocks away. She …

Continue reading

Share

The Homelessness Series: What About the Kids?

According to a report conducted by the Coalition of the Homeless last month, a record high 50,000 people slept in New York City’s shelters this January. Fifty-thousand people. More people are now homeless in New York City than at any time since the Great Depression. Want to know an even scarier fact? Almost half of …

Continue reading

Share

The Homelessness Series: The Pursuit of Happyness

I’m just going to start off with the disclaimer: I love the movie The Pursuit of Happyness. I really do. However, I have one major objection to the film, which I would like to discuss with you. For those of you who haven’t seen the movie, here’s the SparkNotes version: A man named Chris Gardner …

Continue reading

Share

The Homelessness Series: “The Game”

There are moments which redefine you. Ones that give you a whole new perspective on yourself, your identity, and the world you live in. Such moments force you to reevaluate your values, your beliefs, and everything you have always taken for granted about your life. Last March, one of those moments happened to me. This …

Continue reading

Share

Finding Formal Work: Homeless Youth

When we think of the homeless population, it is sometimes hard to understand all the differing circumstances of how these individuals lost their homes and also why they are unable to break the cycle of homelessness.  I’d like to highlight challenges faced by homeless youth and how their particular condition is in dire need of …

Continue reading

Share

Foreclosure Conversion: Housing for the Homeless

Ever since the recession of 2008, we have seen an incline in homeless Americans.  The contradiction to this trend is that we have more vacant houses than ever in the U.S. as homes slide into foreclosure and people can’t afford to maintain a mortgage with an outrageous interest rate.  When the housing bubble of 2008 …

Continue reading

Share