I’ve visited the women’s winter emergency shelter at Grace Community Church the past two nights, and it’s a peaceful and happy place to be. I already knew most of the homeless women who are staying there, but it’s so cool to get to hang out with them at night like … > read more
Operation Greensboro Cares, a fundraising partnership coordinated by the United Way, the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, the News & Record and other media partners, is raising money for emergency shelter (including winter shelter through the WE! program), emergency food assistance through food pantries, and emergency financial assistance with power … > read more
Recently, during one of our street outreaches, one of the guys asked if I knew anyone who could help with his rent, because he and his girlfriend had some financial setbacks and were about to be evicted and become homeless. They had already been to all of the financial assistance … > read more
I’ve been writing about local efforts to come up with additional emergency winter shelter, and about the increase in requests for assistance and decline in giving. Today’s News & Record features front-page, above-the-fold coverage of both those issues. “Requests for help rise as non-profits struggle:” (PDF) Some agencies have seen … > 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
At a recent meeting focused on expanding emergency winter shelter in response to the growing number of homeless people on the street, Greensboro Urban Ministry’s shelter director, Manny Matos, addressed concerns such as shelter overcrowding: ” …when we’re dealing with human life, I take the risk. We have to understand, … > read more
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
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