Category: Homelessness & Poverty
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Bitter Sleep: An Incident at the Boston Public Library
On Wednesday Dec. 27 the National Weather Service has issued its first wind chill advisory in Boston where temperatures are expected to range between five above zero to twenty below zero degrees. Frostbite conditions like this can kill people, and at the Boston Central Library on that day a man was tossed out into them…
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HUD Delays Obama-era Policy on Fair Housing
Fair Housing Act (FHA) requirements for funding have now been put on hold by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) until 2020, leaving housing advocates across the country worried about unaddressed inequities. Under President Barack Obama HUD began requiring communities to provide data on how they address segregation issues and other concerns under…
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Homeless Memorial Service 2017
The pews at Church on the Hill were filled with friends, advocates, and members of the homeless community on Thursday to pay tribute to over 100 people who died this past year. The interfaith service marked the 28th anniversary of the National Homeless Person’s Memorial Day, though the Boston community has seen a similar event…
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Affordable Housing Survives GOP Tax Bill’s Final Edit
The Republicans of the House and Senate released the final version of their tax bill on Friday, Dec. 15, with the intention of voting it into law before the new year. The bill—titled the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—has received numerous edits since it was originally introduced by House Means and Ways Committee Chairman Kevin…
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Memories of Thanksgiving on the Street
I enjoyed this past Thanksgiving, probably more than I’ve enjoyed Thanksgiving in quite some time. I got to spend a nice, quiet holiday in my adopted hometown with friends. It was quiet, and I caught up on a lot of sleep and watched movies. I wish I could say that nothing bothered me at all,…
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Triage Tool Uses Health Care Info to House Homeless With Better Support Systems
Mathematica Policy Research released a study demonstrating that a triage assessment tool used by the Massachusetts Shelter and Housing Alliance (MHSA) can successfully predict the emergency resource utilization of chronically homeless individuals. The MHSA partners with organizations and service providers in the state to place chronically homeless people in housing with appropriate supportive services. Since…
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Indigenous People and Homelessness: a Distinct and Growing Reality
Carole Lévesque is a professor at the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS) who specialises in urbanization, culture and society. Over the course of two years, she headed a team of six researchers who studied the situation of homeless indigenous people in Montreal and Val-d’Or and wrote a report on their findings. A specialist…
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Indigenous People and Homelessness: a Distinct and Growing Reality
Photo by Paul Fleurent Carole Lévesque is a professor at the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS) who specialises in urbanization, culture and society. Over the course of two years, she headed a team of six researchers who studied the situation of homeless indigenous people in Montreal and Val-d’Or and wrote a report on…
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From Recovery to Revolution: Russell Brand talks addiction and recovery
Photo by Louise Haywood-Schiefer The Big Issues of the United Kingdom and Australia have gone Russell Brand daft in recent issues. In this conversation from a church in central London, the eccentric actor, writer, comedian and activist talks with a group of Big Issue vendors about what drives their addictions and how they overcame them.…