Author: Robert Karash
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Broken Lives
It’s very hard to imagine how and why people’s lives get broken — let alone their hearts getting broken, which may be a prerequisite to it all anyway. But people’s lives do get broken, and it seems there’s no getting back to where they once were as happy people involved in our world. We can […]
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Who is Homeless? The HUD Annual Report to Congress and Homelessness Pulse Project
Counting and categorizing the homeless is a difficult task, both practically and theoretically. Every year or so, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) prepares a report for the Congress—called the Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR)—on the state of homelessness in the country. It attempts to do just that: demograph the homeless […]
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Natural Born Winners
We frequently hear someone being called a “loser”. Whether it’s meant as a temporary label or a permanent condition, it is a harsh determination and a terrible stigma. Quite often, we hear the homeless and downtrodden labeled as “losers”, which at best seems to be an admission of a lack of concern. Why might this […]
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The Sweet Smell of Success
Success is something to savor and be proud of, especially when the outcome is worthwhile. For a number of people formerly living without a home, a family, or life security, there is much success in once again having it all and having it for all the right reasons. Not everyone ascends out of homelessness and […]
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The Clubhouse
In some towns people who are experiencing homelessness have to wander around during the day until they are allowed back into a homeless shelter to get their bed to sleep for the night. In other places, so-called day centers for homeless exist to provide services and to be simply a place to go during what […]
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Requiem for a Homeless Cause
Robert L. Karash In the various media, be it print, broadcast, or internet, we sometimes see news stories and reportage on topics related to homelessness and the poor. Sometimes an incident reported in the media nearly obliterates any empathy or compassion we may have felt for the homeless. Unfair generalizations about homeless people become pervasive […]
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A House of Thin Glass
Robert Karash The goal of many programs, advocacy agencies, and society-at-large is to help the homeless get back on their feet. This frequently entails assisting these individuals to get permanent housing and out of emergency shelters or off of the street. Of the outcomes available, the very best a homeless person could hope for is […]
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"Spare Change?"
Robert L. Karash People who walk through the streets in major cities and in other places frequently hear cries of “Spare Change?” or “Can anyone spare some change?”. These requests usually come from someone who is ostensibly homeless or down on their luck in life. How a society-at-large reacts to this plea is an indication […]
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The Graduate
Robert L. Karash Spare Change News When one thinks of graduation, one might envision an idyllic campus in June, nice weather, greenery, caps and gowns, and the future with success. But for homeless people, a graduation from a transitional housing program means the beginning of a new life with a new home. For the general […]
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Housing Lost, Housing Regained, Housing Kept
Robert L. Karash Homelessness in this world isn’t going away easily despite all efforts to eradicate it as a syndrome and all sincere attempts to help people back on their feet by giving them a hand up, not a hand out. People—including politicians and social scientists—like to say “The solution to homelessness is housing.” Although […]