This morning, I read in the N&R that Amends Ministry is finally closing its doors. The transitional housing program for ex-offenders has had its problems for some time, and I had been expecting this announcement long before it came. The loss of Amends leaves just one ex-offender ministry in Greensboro … > read more
Someone arrived at my blog today after searching for a list of Section 8 rental properties. Just in case they come back, and for future reference for others, I wanted to post about a web site that lists affordable housing for rent and for sale:Â SocialServe.com. I was on the local … > read more
Greensboro’s Code of Ordinances is located online here. Go to Chapter 20 and subsections to see ordinances about panhandling (“begging or soliciting alms.”) Last fall (2005), in a meeting with local homeless panhandlers and Greensboro police officers, the panhandlers requested written copies of the detailed rules after officers read and … > read more
London is ahead of us with their “rough sleepers initiative,” which is their plan to move the homeless off the streets and into permanent supportive housing (what we call “housing first” in our Ten Year Plans here in America.) But has it worked? Has anything really changed? “If you look … > read more
Thanks to Tom Phillips and Yvonne Johnson, the resolution supporting the Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness was (unexpectedly!) put back on the table at tonight’s City Council meeting and Council voted to approve it. I was pleasantly surprised (and honored!) when Mr. Phillips mentioned that he learned more about … > read more
On April 9th, I was appointed to represent HPCGC as a member of our local Task Force to End Homelessness, which is charged with developing the Greensboro/High Point/Guilford County Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness. Below is a summary from my notes of the presentation given to the Task Force … > read more
“‘The plan to end homelessness,’ that sounds wonderful, and I wish everybody involved in that well, but it isn’t gonna happen. ‘The plan to reduce homelessness’ may be a better terminology, but I’m not gonna quibble about that. But you’ll find that if we implement massive programs the homeless will … > read more
The Greensboro City Council tabled a motion on tonight’s consent agenda that would have provided $15,000 in funding to assist with the Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness. The tabled agenda item: “24. Resolution in support of the development of a ten-year plan to end homelessness.” Tom Phillips pulled the … > read more
This past Friday night during NightWatch, we couldn’t find an open bed at any of the shelters for a 22-year old homeless woman we met at the bus station. I want people to know that, but I can’t even describe what it’s like to have to say, “We have no … > read more
Northwest Greensboro. Safe neighborhoods. Prosperous residents. Comfortable affluence. Homeless people. Wait… what? Last night, the NightWatch team visited some of our homeless friends who have lived outside for years under bridges and in wooded camps in northwest Greensboro, within walking distance of some of Greensboro’s wealthiest neighborhoods. And most likely, … > read more