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
From my church’s director of outreach: “How do you make the best decision when the way seems unclear? For example, there has been a group of homeless people sleeping on our church grounds for months and months, and the decision of what to do about this situation has been confusing. … > read more
Image source: Boston Globe » View photo gallery From The Boston Globe There have been rat droppings on the old, musty carpet and frequent mouse sightings near holes in the pocked, plaster walls. For months, exterminators have fought an infestation of bedbugs, which left at least one client with bite … > read more
Arloa Sutter on “Who’s to Blame?” for poverty. “… Conservatives tend to blame the individual and his or her family citing personal failure and the lack of appropriate family values. Liberals blame systemic racism, social inequalities and structural evil. We might blame the church for being silent on social issues … > read more
Current and former tenants of Greensboro’s South Pointe Apartments are suing the owners and managers of the complex “for damages due to the Defendants’ failure to repair the premises and to put and keep them in a decent, safe and sanitary condition, while continuing to demand and collect rent from … > read more
Yesterday was the annual Healthy Homes Bus Tour. We heard a lot about lead poisoning. And I’ve been reading more on the web this morning. The relationship between lead poisoning and crime is disturbing. There’s a “highly significant link between lead toxicity and the likelihood of criminal activity.” There’s a … > read more
Below are excerpts from a newly released report, “Homeless Voices: Opinions of the Poor and Homeless in Civic Conversations,” a community-based research project by UNCG Department of Communication Studies Professor Spoma Jovanovic, Ph.D., and students Jill Eversole, Anna Simanovich, Ashley Tedder, and Trey Woody. The full report (17 pages, PDF) … > read more
The Chapel Hill homeless shelter is run by the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service. Their mission statement lists ADVOCACY as their first value: We work to overcome the social and economic barriers that prevent individuals and families from achieving their goals. Their home page links to the National Coalition for … > read more
T. Dianne Bellamy-Small, responding to a fellow City Council member’s allegation that she gave away too many free city bus passes: “I gave the passes to schools in my district for parents who had no transportation to come see about their children. I gave them to agencies that had poor … > read more