Tag: veteran homelessness

  • Can We Completely End Veteran Homelessness?

    Can We Completely End Veteran Homelessness?

    Veteran homelessness has been a consistent problem in the United States dating as far back as World War II.  While 17 percent of our entire homeless population is made up of veterans, just 8 percent of Americans claim veteran status, according to Green Doors, a homelessness organization in Central Texas. Earlier this year it was…

  • Boston’s Way Home fights to end chronic homelessness in Boston by 2018

    Boston’s Way Home fights to end chronic homelessness in Boston by 2018

    Photo: Zengzheng Wang Wang Boston has one of the lowest urban street homelessness rates in the country, thanks to its strong web of homeless shelters and other resources. In fact, the total number of homeless individuals in Boston has declined by 14.5 percent since 2007. However, the city isn’t stopping there. Boston’s plan to end veteran…

  • HUD partners with Commonwealth agencies to end veteran homelessness

    HUD partners with Commonwealth agencies to end veteran homelessness

    In a push to truly eliminate chronic veteran homelessness, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will provide a major funding boost to Massachusetts’ division of the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program. The HUD and VA announced the funding increase and partnership at the start of…

  • More Work to Do

    More Work to Do

    Last Tuesday the body of a young homeless woman was found in a tent in Lynn Woods. A few days before that, I’d bragged about how my adopted hometown was ahead of the curve when it comes to homelessness. That may be true, but death still claims those living on the streets. This means there’s…

  • LAST WORD: Jerry Harrell

    LAST WORD: Jerry Harrell

    Jerry Harrell is one of Spare Change News’ “old guard.” Alongside Algia Benjamin and James Shearer, he was among the original lineup of vendors who sold the first issue of the newspaper in May 1992. The cover of that issue—a photograph of a man selling catnip for $2 a bag—embodies what the newspaper is all about:…

  • ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Boston plans to end chronic individual homelessness by 2018

    ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Boston plans to end chronic individual homelessness by 2018

    When the Long Island bridge closed—cutting off access to the city’s largest shelter and many residential treatment programs, some saw the crisis as an opportunity to reform a system that wasn’t working. After all, the only thing more outdated than that 64-year-old rusty bridge was the idea that just sheltering people alone was the best…