A News & Record article about homeless camps in the path of the Downtown Greenway elicited the usual negative comments about homeless people. One of those who responded with truth (and grace) was a friend of mine, who’s been homeless in the past. The only experts on homelessness are people … > read more
Jeri Rowe writes about the life and death of James Roscoe Davis, a homeless man I first met at a Wednesday night dinner at Grace Community Church, years ago. The Roscoe I knew was chronically homeless, mentally ill, addicted. Rowe’s article revealed the Roscoe I never knew — the real … > read more
I wrote about the guys on the block (and more) for the News & Record: “When there’s nowhere to go,” by Michele Forrest; published Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009. It’s online here, and reposted below: My ministry partner, Audrie Keen, and I provide a street outreach to the homeless in Greensboro, … > read more
My ministry partner, Audrie Keen, describes what we saw while doing street outreach today: Hurting, lonely people. People who have no voice, people who are hungry, people who need to be warm and have no sleeping bag when the temps drop. People who are heavily addicted to drugs and don’t … > read more
Good editorial in today’s News & Record: “Clearing out The Block”: Greensboro police last week stepped up loitering enforcement and effectively cleared the place known as “The Block.” Just like that. Through a series of 30-minute patrols, officers shooed away the clusters of mostly men who routinely gather at the … > read more
Brian Clarey visited the Freeman Mill homeless camps and wrote a powerful story for the 10/07/2009 edition of YES! Weekly. Read “Street Level” online here. Some quotes, with my notes: “The tobacco has kept me from killing a couple a people,” [Cotton] says, “including myself.” When we visit the camps, … > read more
The News & Record and WFMY report that the owner of the University Mart in Greensboro has been charged with food stamp fraud. He’s accused of making purchases at local grocery stores with food stamps that weren’t assigned to him. The University Mart is on Warren Street, near the intersection … > read more
Be sure to read Lorraine Ahearn’s News & Record article, “Benches highlight a bigger problem”, which begins like this: “The location of artistic benches, which were removed from the Downtown Greenway on Friday after neighbors complained, looked good on paper but ignored some basic urban topography. Just a stone’s throw … > read more
UPDATE: The amendments to the panhandling ordinance passed unanimously. Tonight, the Greensboro City Council considers significant revisions to the ordinance governing public soliciting, begging and panhandling. The proposed changes would result in a de facto ban on panhandling in the downtown area, and would strictly limit panhandling throughout the rest … > read more
>> List of drug and alcohol treatment centers in the Greensboro area. This list is no longer online. I’m trying to find new resources. (Includes free, private insurance, self-pay and Medicaid programs.) Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid movement declaring its “primary purpose is to … > read more