homelessness

Cities Consider How to Make Life Harder For the Homeless

Hamilton Nolan · 10/29/14 08:17AM

The homeless in America are not just old winos perched on the same corner day after day. There are also the young homeless, who ride the rails and sleep on the beach and live equally awful but more mobile lives. Some towns would like to make their lives harder.

NYPD Harassment Stories: Do Cops Unfairly Target the Homeless?

Jason Parham · 10/09/14 12:15PM

What is our responsibility to the homeless? That might seem too big a question, but it is something I wrestle with occasionally. It's impossible to avoid the less fortunate men and women who populate our streets—the father forced to seek charity from strangers on subway cars so he can feed his family or the woman struggling to get back on her feet after being laid off. Sixty-thousand people look for shelter every night in New York. And what of those individuals unable to secure a bed, with no other option than to sleep under the lights of our unforgiving city?

Canadians Make Us Look Bad by Building Nicer Benches for the Homeless

Adam Weinstein · 07/02/14 12:40PM

The homeless have it hard lately, what with all the anti-homeless measures municipalities have implemented to keep them off benches and sculptures and sidewalks. Except in Vancouver, where one charity is building "pop-up" shelters that invite the weary in.

L.A'.s Most Arrested Person Is a Homeless Grandmother

Hamilton Nolan · 04/29/14 08:50AM

The person who has been arrested more than anyone else in Los Angeles in the past six years is not a drug dealer or a gang member. It is Annie Moody, a 59 year-old homeless grandmother who lives on skid row.

Cord Jefferson · 12/18/13 05:59PM

Seven homeless people have now frozen to death in the Bay Area since a harsh winter cold snap first gripped the region in late November. This news comes one week after a startup CEO wrote of San Francisco's homeless, "There is nothing positive gained from having them so close to us."

Hamilton Nolan · 11/22/13 09:21AM

New figures show that homelessness is down 4% nationwide this year, but up by 13% in New York City, where affordable housing is but a dream.

Lacey Donohue · 11/20/13 08:15PM

Homeless veteran Jim Wolf, star of the timelapse makeover viral hit, was arrested on Sunday at a Burger King in Grand Rapids, Mich. Wolf pled guilty to charges of trespassing and creating a disturbance. He will serve 20 days in jail.

Veterans, Homelessness, and the Long Road Back

Hamilton Nolan · 11/11/13 03:23PM

Curtis Peterson, a veteran of Operation Desert Storm, lost his civilian job in Georgia in the recession. So he got on a bus to New York. Once here, he promptly had a stroke. Today, he considers himself one of the lucky ones.

Lacey Donohue · 10/07/13 06:27PM

Glen James, the homeless man who found a backpack containing over $40,000 in cash and traveler’s checks in front of a Boston Best Buy last month, has now received over $150,000 in donations. Thanks to the kindness of strangers, he’ll be moving into transitional housing in Cambridge this week.