Category: Human Rights
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New Report Says Challenges Remain Despite Decrease in Homelessness
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Since 2013, more homeless people have been living in permanent supportive housing and rapid re-housing than emergency shelters across the country, according to a new report released by the National Alliance to End Homelessness. This shift is largely due to the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act, a bill that…
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Bill Languishes in State House while Homeless Youth Wait
BOSTON, Mass.—For many Massachusetts teenagers, the basics of a stable life – a bed, three meals a day, regular access to health services – are a given, and often easy to take for granted. However, for the more than 6,000 high school students who are homeless and on their own in one the nation’s most…
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Criminalizing the Homeless
As the New York Times noted in its 17 July 2014 editorial, “Shunting the Homeless From Sight,” the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit struck down the City of Los Angeles’ ban on citizens living out of automobiles. We all should be grateful for the wise decision of the Ninth Circuit, which…
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Cambridge Nonprofit Ending Service Program as HUD Cuts Funds
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Since 1990, Cambridge’s homeless population has had an ally in the Community Learning Center’s (CLC) Project LIFT program, which offers Adult Basic Education, GED, and ESOL classes to the city’s homeless adults. Students can be taken in and assigned an advisor immediately, not having to wait for the monthly intake and orientation. They can…
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Waste Not, Want Not: Food Recovery Grows Out of Massachusetts’ Waste Ban
In 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency reported that America generated 36 million tons of food waste and 96 percent of that food went directly to landfills or incinerators. In the same year, the EPA also reported that 14.9 percent of homes in the US did not know where their next meal would come from. Instead…
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Not Enough
A few weeks ago SCN celebrated its 22nd anniversary. Our annual gala as usual was great: good food, a great keynote speaker, an inspiring vendor photo exhibit. Just a great night overall. And as usual, several people who spoke thanked me for what I and other founders created. It is always moving when someone leaves…
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Melvin Jenkins Remembered by Friends On and Off the Street: Cambridge Homeless Man Dies at 58; Described as Talented, Caring and Loyal
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Alistair Finlay misses his friend. He first met Melvin Jenkins two-and-a-half years ago, and he seemed like the kind of guy worth meeting. They became best friends. Both were homeless, seeing each other at drop-in centers and at Bread and Jam for breakfast. Alistair found Mel a very helpful man and a loyal friend,…
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A Year After Mass Hunger Strike in California Prisons, What Has Changed?
By Victoria Law CRESCENT CITY, Calif.—On July 8, 2013, 30,000 California prisoners launched what became a 60-day mass hunger strike. One year later, however, Luis Esquivel is still sitting in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) in solitary confinement in California’s Pelican Bay State Prison. “Right now, my uncle is in his cell with no windows,”…
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‘Get Connected’ Brings Computers to Those in Need
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Every Wednesday afternoon from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., volunteers gather in the basement of Old Cambridge Baptist Church in Harvard Square to build computers for those in need. They are part of Get Connected – a volunteer-run computer clinic provided by the nonprofit Solutions At Work in partnership with Computer Care and Learning,…