Tonight was the Food Not Bombs dinner at the HIVE. A lot of the people who eat at the FNB dinners are homeless, and some are formerly homeless. Tonight, one of my formerly homeless friends came and brought her daughter. They went in the kitchen and got out the biggest … > read more
I’m on the phone with one of my formerly homeless friends. He was out canning and dumpster diving this morning and he found a really nice blanket and a hooded sweatshirt. He gave it to a homeless guy who sleeps outside. (Like he used to.) A soda truck driver saw … > read more
Fox8 interviewed some of our homeless friends (Mississippi, Junior and Bobby) and one of the GPD cops we partner with (Tim Tepedino) about the freezing temperatures and the lack of shelter. (Story, video.) Junior said: “If it wasn’t for police officers coming down here helping homeless people right here, we’d … > read more
I’m in the conference room at Greensboro Urban Ministry, talking to director Mike Aiken ahead of a 3:00 p.m. meeting about the looming winter shelter crisis. Mike says: “I think we can get ahead of it, if we can get that Katrina spirit. It’s a hurricane we see coming.” Amen … > read more
I just got another phone call from a cop. Two of the homeless guys downtown had their blankets stolen. And the cops are out of blankets. So I’m going to get more. And I’m going to a meeting about emergency winter shelter this afternoon. Overnight temperatures are forecast to be … > read more
This weekend, I learned that a homeless friend got a temporary job with a catering company during furniture market, and that he’s been bringing home containers of leftover food and making up plates to feed other homeless people at night. I also saw another homeless friend ride up on a … > read more
Homeless people are having difficulty accessing substance abuse treatment in Greensboro. Many have told me that they’ve called or visited Guilford Center, the county mental health agency, and just been given the phone number for Bridgeway, the county treatment center. But when they call Bridgeway, they get a recording telling … > read more
Robert Lupton, in Theirs Is The Kingdom: Somewhere on the way to becoming rich we picked up the idea that preserving our property is preferable to expending it for the people. Why should it be so difficult to decide which is wiser: to open the church for the homeless to … > read more
I got an email this morning from the Rev. Mike Aiken, director of Greensboro Urban Ministries: I am very concerned about having enough emergency shelter for this winter for our homeless friends. Weaver House has been at capacity all summer. Pathways has 44 families on the waiting list. The Guilford … > read more
Homeless people often have everything they own in their backpacks. These backpacks were stashed near where some of my homeless friends were reading or using computers at the library yesterday afternoon. From my on-the-street perspective, it certainly appears that hunger and homelessness are increasing in Greensboro. There are more and … > read more