Author: Reena Karasin
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Chris Faraone on Journalism in the Trump Era
When local alternative journalist Chris Faraone sparred with Andrew Breitbart—founder of Breitbart News, the ultra-conservative site that has promulgated racist, sexist and antisemitic content—in 2012, only one came out alive. Shortly after Faraone and Breitbart clashed on WRKO, Breitbart died. Faraone likes to claim credit for Breitbart’s early death—his book is entitled “I Killed Breitbart.”…
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New York City Sees Record Homeless Population
A record-breaking total of more than 60,000 homeless individuals are seeking refuge in New York City’s homeless shelters this fall, a deluge that is drawing attention to the city’s handling of its homeless citizens. The city’s affordable housing crisis is the primary cause of the increase, according to policy analyst for New York City’s Coalition…
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State Reduces Number of Homeless Families Sheltered in Motels, but Concerns Remain
The state’s emergency assistance program is celebrating a decrease in families housed in hotels and motels—a problematic practice that Gov. Charlie Baker has pledged to eradicate—but critics say that the shift has its own set of flaws. Massachusetts is a right-to-shelter state, meaning it provides shelter to families, including pregnant women who have no other…
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Thousands of Boston students face homelessness as school approaches
As Boston Public Schools (BPS) students gear up for the excitement and pressures of another school year, over seven percent of the district’s youths are facing the additional stresses of homelessness. The approximately 4,000 homeless students in the public school system represent almost one fifth of the state’s homeless students—a staggering figure that has climbed…
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Criticism abounds as b.good revives Long Island farm
Several years ago, many homeless and addicted individuals called Long Island home. The Boston Harbor Island was filled to the brim with social service programs. A farm helped feed those staying at a large shelter. A summer camp offered programs for adolescents from Boston’s at-risk neighborhoods. Closed to the public, the city-owned island helped 1,000…
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Shower to the People puts hygiene on wheels
“We make kitchens mobile—why can’t we make showers mobile?” Jake Austin, founder and program director of Shower to the People, has always been involved in volunteering. He follows in the footsteps of his parents, who’ve run a soup kitchen for almost 20 years. Austin had the idea for Shower to the People, an organization that…
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Massachusetts to address emergency assistance confusion, but not through budget
Photo: Emmanuel Huybrechts Massachusetts’s State Senate and House of Representatives toyed with introducing language that would clear up the eligibility requirements for the state’s emergency assistance program, but ultimately they did not include the clarification in their FY 2017 budget proposal. Massachusetts is the country’s only right-to-shelter state, meaning that through the Department of Housing…
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Lawyers Clearinghouse receives grant to expand pro-bono legal aid
Photo: Lawyers Clearinghouse Lawyers Clearinghouse, an organization that connects homeless individuals and nonprofits with pro bono legal services, received a $100,000 grant from the Cummings Foundation that will allow it to expand its services and staff. Lawyers Clearinghouse has a small staff—just four employees—but a wide reach. In the fiscal year 2014, the organization provided…
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Go Boston 2030 seeks public input on city’s transportation future
Photo: Shinya Suzuki Go Boston 2030, an initiative that aims to redesign the way Bostonians get around the city and through its borders, has released the short list of potential projects and policies that would impact walking, biking, driving and taking public transit in the greater Boston area. The initiative has continually sought public feedback…