We had snow

Snow falls differently for people. There are those who hate it, and hunker down indoors and bemoan the fact that they live in New England (or Minnesota or Ohio, or wherever it snowed) and now sunny Florida (or insert the warm climate of your choice). There are those who resolutely (duty calls!) navigate the dangerous …

Homelessness is not a crime

I wrote this for the New England News Collaborative, with funding from the Melville Charitable Trust. It may read a little wonky (I have that habit) but honestly, read the story at the beginning and the end. It’s good for what ails ye.

How Connecticut’s homeless emergency response system saved a life

This is Jim King, a Marine veteran with an incredible story to tell. I sat in his apartment interviewing, and half the time I wanted to hug him and the rest of the time, I wanted to thank him. I only did the latter. His story is so many other veteran’s stories. I wrote this …

You need to see this picture

A year ago, that man in the middle was sleeping on the porch of the state Supreme Court. He rolled up his bag one day and walked across the street to participate in Homelessness and Housing Advocacy Days — talk to legislators about his situation, maybe make some change. This is that man just last year: …

About that ending of veterans homelessness in CT…

Yesterday, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced that Connecticut had ended veterans homelessness. The state actually accomplished this by the end of 2015, but they were waiting on the Department of Housing and Urban Development to officially verify it. It is one thing to say one has accomplished such a feat, and quite another to have …

If you’ve nothing better to do…

…listen to WNPR’s “Where We Live” around 9:20 on Friday morning, and hear Breisha Hilyard (featured here) talk about her life. Brei has an incredible story, and it’s well worth listening to. I’ll be there, too.

Read Mother Jones’ take on ending homelessness in Utah

It’s really a shockingly simply solution. Connecticut, too, uses the Housing First model, with great success. And thanks, John, for this link.

Imagine. A functional end to homelessness in Hartford. Glory!

In a housing revolution, sometimes things move slowly

But they do move, sometimes. I followed Breisha Hilyard in her quest to find adequate (and affordable) housing in Hartford. A couple of times, she and her two children skated dangerously close to homelessness. This is not how things are supposed to be. I watched Hilyard struggle, conquer, and get knocked back down only to …

Check out where homelessness is ending

You can read more here, from CityLab. As the text says: Don’t celebrate yet. And thanks, Kimberley, for the link.