HUD recently awarded renewal funds for existing homeless programs as part of the Fiscal Year 2010 Continuum of Care Grants. Homeless service providers in Guilford County received a total of $1,449,318 — a modest increase of $8,244 overall from 2009. Most homeless service providers received the same funding as last … > 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
“Whether they go is not an option; how and when they go is up to them.” A source tells me that construction on the next phase of the Downtown Greenway could begin as soon as mid-November. Installation of traffic lights on Lee Street could be completed by the end of … > read more
Jimmy is 69 years old. He’s worked all his life, and is a military veteran, but now, at retirement age, he is living in a tent in the woods. [video link] Jimmy says that he’s eligible for Social Security, but doesn’t have the identification he needs, including his DD214, to … > read more
The Greensboro City Council is scheduled to vote tonight on buying the Coliseum Inn on High Point Road, and the plan is to tear down the hotel and sell the property to a developer. I don’t really have a strong opinion for or against the City buying and razing the … > read more
Question: “Can a home save the homeless?” That’s the title of Amanda Lehmert’s 11/16/2008 News & Record article on the housing support team program — an initiative to move chronically homeless people from the street into housing. Vincent Sims used to sleep under the Lee Street bridge. He spent some … > read more
In early August, I met with Andy Scott, director of the City’s department of Housing and Community Development, and members of his staff, to discuss how the City’s plans to buy the Coliseum Inn would affect the low-income and homeless people who stay there. Street outreach teams from NightWatch and … > read more
From Mike Aiken, executive director, Greensboro Urban Ministry: The Greensboro Urban Ministry Board of Directors approved the start-up of a new program, Beyond Pathways, and the establishment of a new fund at the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, thanks to the receipt of a nearly $1 million bequest from the … > read more
I’ve been busy doing instead of writing lately, so here’s a little update on local homeless news. Last night, I attended the third of four planned registration dinner meetings at HealthServe for homeless people without income or health benefits. These have been going really well and a number of those … > read more
I posted the prayer I prayed on my way home from last night’s NightWatch. One of my prayers was for “my friend who sleeps at Grace who’s moving into housing and who needs to be encouraged.” Today, he sent me an email and asked me to forward it to the … > read more