Category: Homelessness & Poverty
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City Offers Update on Homeless and Recovery Services
When Boston closed down the Long Island health campus in 2014, it lost over 400 shelter beds and over 200 recovery beds. Two years later, the city has restored over 600 beds, rivaling 2014’s numbers. The city revealed the numbers at a press roundtable in early October to highlight the early success of their Boston’s…
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People support sheltering women, starting with a spaghetti dinner
All photos: Matt Grazier Hundreds of people ate spaghetti this past Friday night at the 2016 Spaghetti Dinner at the Fairmount Copley Plaza. It was a fundraiser event hosted by the Women’s Lunch Place, a nonprofit that give women refuge from the streets by providing shelter and food, among many other things. “Guests of WLP…
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Addressing Homelessness with a New Lens
When people look around the Cambridge/Boston area they see great universities, a thriving economy, innovation and new construction. Yet, surrounded by all of this wealth, we often lose sight of the fact that there are many in our community who are struggling. They are struggling to pay rent, put food on the table and pay…
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Mayor Walsh Makes $14 Million Available for Affordable Housing
Mayor Marty Walsh made $14 million available for affordable housing projects on Sept. 15, the mayor’s office said in a press release. The funding will be available through the city’s Department of Neighborhood Development via two $7 million competitive Requests for Proposals, the mayor’s office said. Walsh aims to create 6,500 units of affordable housing…
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Prominent Athlete Acknowledged for Work with Struggling Youth and Families
John Wall is best known for his actions on the court, but his actions off are what caught the attention of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, which recently recognized him with an award. Wall, a point guard for the Washington Wizards, is the first NBA player to receive the McKinney Award, named…
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New supplemental budget offers up to $4,000 to help individuals, families avoid homelessness
The Massachusetts House of Representatives voted to pass a supplemental budget for fiscal year two thousand and sixteen that includes stipulations to provide funding for eligible candidates to avoid homelessness. The supplementary budget passed two weeks ago states that as of October 1, 2016, qualified individuals and families can receive up to $4,000 from Residential…
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Penn State Professor Hopes to Add Voices Through Homeless Narratives
Penn State Professor Joshua D. Phillips opened his latest book, “Homeless: Narratives from the Streets,” with a Mother Teresa quote, “Today it is fashionable to talk about the poor. Unfortunately, it is not fashionable to talk with them.” Phillips’ book, which served as his graduate dissertation from Southern Illinois University, is taken from spending 2012…
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What Does Massachusetts’ Low Unemployment Rate Mean for the State’s Homeless?
This past August, the Massachusetts unemployment rate hit a substantial low, dropping from 4.1 percent in July to 3.9 percent—the lowest it has been in 15 years. With 5,900 jobs added last month, the last time the state’s jobless rate was this low was August 2001. The added jobs were primarily in leisure and hospitality,…
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Unlikely hero: Homeless man thwarts act of terror
A man who was recently homeless is being hailed a hero after alerting police to a bag filled with pipe bombs earlier this month in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Lee Parker received keys to the city and the seal of the city from Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage after finding pipe bombs in a Midtown Elizabeth Train…
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Renters Day of Action: Bostonians March Against Displacement and Gentrification
All photos: Anthony Williams As rents in Boston continue to increase, housing activists rallied and marched from City Hall to Chinatown demanding a freeze on rent increases and better eviction prevention for city residents. After a brief introduction at One Center Plaza, a giant prop fence reading “Eviction Free Zone” proceeded to lead the moving…