As the City of Miami considers a ban on panhandling, Jackie Dowd says, “[T]heir real problem seems to be that Miami’s laws against aggressive panhandling are not being enforced.” Greensboro has a fairly strict panhandling ordinance, but we also have an understaffed and overworked police department. Did you that, according … > read more
From Today at the Mission: …I’m looking for something else in a church. I’m looking for a place where a community of believers can grapple with scripture, can wrestle with what it means to be a Christ-follower in this sin-wracked, broken world of ours. I’m looking for a place where … > read more
image credit: borazivkovic I went to the annual ConvergeSouth Barbecue at David and Jinni Hoggard’s on Friday night. It was great to see my blogging friends. At the end of the evening, Hogg asked if I wanted to take the rest of the food (there was lots left!) to feed … > read more
The City of Greensboro’s new loitering ordinance, ostensibly aimed at controlling downtown’s late-night crowds, is claiming other casualties — it’s clearing “the block” at Lee and Eugene. This block is home to Greensboro Urban Ministry (the largest homeless services provider in Greensboro) and its Weaver House night shelter. Weaver House … > read more
A U.S. Senate committee has passed a bill with significant (and good!) changes to federal funding for homelessness. The bill must also pass on the Senate floor. Some of the changes include adding people who are “doubled-up” (homeless and staying temporarily in the homes) to the federal definition of homelessness … > read more
San Francisco found a novel approach to ridding a hillside park in an über-affluent neighborhood of its resident homeless population. The city spent $15,000 on a herd of goats, which ate away the thick underbrush that hid the encampments where the homeless folks slept and hung out. The homeless people … > read more
News release from Guilford Center: Front row (left to right): Joe Fortin, Cassandra Durham, Vivian Armstrong, the Honorable Sue Burch, Alicia Kaplan, Katie Poulos, Lelia Moore, Michele Forrest, Vanessa Blackwell, Back row (left to right): Lieutenant Thomas Hanson, Jackie Lucas, Roslyn Rope, Ben Aalbers, Jim Young, Paul Nagy, and Charles … > read more
Homelessness 101: Watch where you walk when you’re doing street outreach with people who sleep outside. (Hint: No bathrooms.) I forgot to share this golden rule with a friend, so I offered to clean his shoes for him. As I cleaned, I thought about my recent conversations with some folks … > read more
In her post, “Talking Trash,” Liz Seymour asks: “Which is more important: feeding hungry people or the law? If you ask yourself the question over and over again it becomes like that little place on the wall where the paint has buckled. Curious, you pick at the bubble one day … > read more
National Depression Screening Day is Thursday, October 11, 2007. Learn more about depression here. Info about free screenings, from the Guilford Center: The Guilford Mental Health Awareness Coalition is sponsoring Community Depression Screenings, FREE of charge, on OCTOBER 11, 2007 at four locations in Greensboro, High Point and Jamestown: UNC-Greensboro … > read more