ChosenFast.com

PRESS RELEASE

Jehan Benton-Clark
For Immediate Release
336.553.2715 (O)
336.215.1295 (M)
Jehan@PartnersEndingHomelessness.org

State of Homelessness in Guilford County

Guilford County, NC—March 22, 2010– Homelessness has become a national issue of significant proportion with over 300 cities and counties across the country implementing plans to address this human tragedy.  In Guilford County, the Partners Ending Homelessness Initiative focuses on actively implementing, evaluating and updating Guilford County’s Ten Year Plan which is aimed at improving the quality of life for all residents of Guilford County by ending chronic homelessness and reducing all types of homelessness by 2016. The Partners Ending Homelessness Initiative focuses on generating housing and strengthening prevention & supportive services.
Read more on State of Homelessness in Guilford County: March 2010…

Read more on State of Homelessness in Guilford County: March 2010…

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 who’ve been homeless. His comment was worth blogging:

Read more on Expert: Homelessness not a choice; your response is…

The Interactive Resource Center, Greensboro’s day center for the homeless, could use donations of the following items:

• Shampoo
• Lotion
• Razors
• Feminine hygiene products
• Plastic wrap
• Bath towels
• Laundry detergent
• Spray cleaners

Read more on Greensboro Homeless Day Center Needs…

Our most recent needs list for our StreetWatch homeless street outreach ministry. We tell the people we see that if they need something we don’t have on the truck or van, we’ll write it down and post it, and if it gets donated, we’ll bring it to them. All of these people live outside in Greensboro. Can you help?

Read more on StreetWatch: Current needs, 11/16/2009…

From The New York Times:

A man was down, immobile at the edge of one of this city’s busiest intersections. No sirens sounded, no ambulance rushed to the scene. Dealing with the scourge that has consumed Alaska’s biggest city is often delegated to two men in a white van, the Community Service Patrol.

Read more on Deaths spur Anchorage to involuntarily commit homeless alcoholics…

“Whether they go is not an option; how and when they go is up to them.”

Audrie, Travis and I, headed into the Freeman Mill camps. Image credit: Mark Horvath

Read more on Greenway construction could raze homeless camps within a month…

Future downtown day center building

The opening of Greensboro’s new homeless day center, tentatively scheduled for this fall, has been pushed back to allow board members to raise additional funds. In March, the Strasser family donated the Southern Plate & Window Glass Co. building at East Washington St. and Murrow Blvd., but the building will have to be renovated to suit the needs of the day center.

Read more on Lack of funds delays day center opening…

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From Mark Horvath at InvisiblePeople.tv:

“Brutal and senseless.”

This is how Cotton describes homelessness. It might just be the most succinct and heart-breakingly accurate explanation I’ve heard in a long time.

Read more on Video of Cotton: 16 years homeless & disabled, “Brutal and senseless”…

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.

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Read more on Video: Jimmy, homeless in Greensboro…

On Saturday, June 27, 2009, my ministry partner, Audrie Keen and I, along with our friends Lavaughn and Lee, participated in an Americorps homeless camp cleanup. The camp we cleaned was one of several in an area that lies in the path of Greensboro’s Downtown Greenway. I recently learned, through an email from an Action Greensboro intern, that the greenway will “displace those living in this area.” Meaning that, if all goes according to plan, our homeless friends will soon be even homeless-er. Hmmm… Guess we need another plan then, don’t we?

Read more on Camp cleanup, homeless needs, Greenway vs. the homeless…

Via email, from Action Greensboro:

“… As you may know, Action Greensboro is spearheading a public/private partnership to create a Downtown Greenway…

Construction… will displace those living in this area…”

Keith

Read more on Homeless in the path of the greenway: Keith…

“Taser the homeless.”

Word is spreading about that disturbing suggestion, which came from an unidentified woman who owns or works for a business on South Elm Street in downtown Greensboro.  She attended a problem-solving meeting on May 18th with District 3 Council rep Zack Matheny and City staff, to discuss parking-related issues in the 300 block of South Elm Street.

Read more on So you heard about the chick who wants to taser the homeless downtown?…