Homelessness

Olivier M. reports that Toronto had a golden age of homelessness, from 2009 to 2013. He speaks from personal experience. In the golden age, he could find a bed in...

According to a new report by Jennifer Charlesworth, B.C.’s representative for children and youth, the poor handling of children who go missing in British Columbia can be partly blamed...

The ultimate small-c, lift-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps conservative has a supposedly bullet-proof sneer at those unfortunates sleeping on the sidewalk. "Don't ask me to solve their problems if they don't have jobs." But...

The whopper: 1.3 billion dollars. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass appears to be committed to telling homelessness like it is. For example, in a recent speech aimed partly at the...

What is it like to be homeless? Even if they want to know, people who have housing may have limited opportunities to find out. This post offers two perspectives,...

Like virtually all North American cities, Thunder Bay, Ontario faces the reality of persistent homelessness. Like a smaller number of cities, indigenous people make up a portion of Thunder...

As the bloom comes off the COVID 'Everybody In!' rose, a nation's most vulnerable have largely returned from their moments of motel and hotel room pandemic safety to life...

How easy is it for people to access the United Kingdom's social "safety net?" Evaluations of this challenge often report that  ". . . a more people-centred response is...

During its short life, affordablehousingaction.org has published 2,700 posts. The purpose of reporting this is not to puff out our chests, but to highlight a gap in our content....

A great deal of so-called 'woke' energy around the world has been mobilizing to demand more recognition for 'trans' rights, together with legal mechanisms to create a physical and...

The COVID pandemic resulted in a profound change — temporarily at least — in the way that homeless citizens were treated world-wide. Was it because communities were overwhelmed by...

With roughly one in three people who are homeless having mental health or drug abuse issues, the growing numbers of people on the streets without shelter is creating antagonism...

This writer's hat is off is Christos Makridis and his website, Zenger News. Further hat-doffing to Forbes for publishing a Makridis story. His article whets the appetite for a new film...

Time was, if you were short on a household item, you'd ask a neighbour to help you out. In today's world, the idea might seem laughable. Would your neighbour...

Affordablehousingaction.org has done a number of posts about the potential of 'tiny mobile homes.' For example, try this pre-COVID one that celebrates tiny-ness while questioning just where it might...

Social and health issues dramatically influence homelessness. It's hardly a surprise that a teenager aging out of care on one hand, and a senior citizen with a fixed income...

A randomized control trial about homelessness services in the United States . . . , you may be rolling your eyes. Yet another randomized control trial? Here are two...

With all of the reports about tent clearances across North America, it is encouraging to learn that there are some places where the rights of people living in encampments...

How would you feel if a paramedic advised you to "call us when somebody dies?" Confused: I thought paramedics were there to save lives. Angry: that paramedic should be...

Much staff discussion and laughter erupted in the halls of a Toronto hospital while this writer awaited day surgery. Shortly thereafter, bouts of singing and more laughter filtered in...

Around the world, tent encampments have been a sensible, practical alternative to more permanent housing when none other is available. Search Wikimedia Commons for 'tents' to reveal some of...

So you're downtown, crossing with the light at a crosswalk. As you approach the middle, you take a wide tour around a shouting person man who is focussing a...

The Women's National Housing and Homelessness Network (WNHHN) is drawing attention to the issue of how gender-diverse peopleThe research discussed in this post uses the term “gender-diverse” as a...

There are some awfully ugly human behaviours out there in the real world. There are also bad habits that foolhardy local councils of one stripe of another can stumble...

Affordablehousingaction.org has emphasized the importance of ensuring that there are  mental health and drug treatment supports for people who are moving from chronic homelessnessChronic homelessness means homelessness lasting for...

From . . . temporary affordable housing that isn't housing anyone at all while it takes a lengthy snooze. Read more in The Seattle Times: The story of Seattle’s homeless...

In the days leading up to the 2023-24 Federal Budget, here's an article in the Ottawa Citizen. It promotes a proposed Canadian Housing Benefit to help people with very...

It's truly astounding the cruelty that groups of self-important, out of touch bureaucrats and/or politicians can inflict on their fellow humans: "Homeless youth are nothing but a nuisance. Let's torture...

The latest fad(?) in solving homeless problems has been dominated by fed-up citizens endlessly encountering dangerous(?) chronic homeless people on the streets. Responding to the concerns of their citizens,...

A warning to readers. This post might be a bit of a downer. Being the middle of winter and all, it's a time when tough stuff can be particularly...

California has the largest number of homeless people per capita in the U.S. It is largely an urban problem, highly visible, much talked about nationally and beyond. Vermont, the state...

The following problem is a conundrum for all social housing suppliers virtually everywhere in the world. We're going to examine that problem in Canada's Yukon Territory, where the homeless...

For many of us, housing is the biggest single cost in a household budget. And, we do our best to make sure that housing costs are covered — if/when...

First there were the fingers. That got society counting all the way to ten. At which point counting-persons, with breathtaking audacity, added in the toes. Actually, this analogy for the...

Karen Bass is the new mayor of Los Angeles, California. She is putting her career on the line by committing to tackle effectively that city's mega-homelessness problem. Already she's winning...

New York City and California are struggling to get mental health interventionist programs for the homeless off the ground. It hasn't been easy going for either initiative. On both...

Reviewer Judy Stone, an infectious disease specialist, uses a periscope of chronic homelessness to capture a view of a growing housing crisis in America. Stone focuses first upon a...

Very few of us have the chance to work at an emergency shelter. If we did, we'd have a much better idea of what it is like to work...

An article in THE GEORGIA Straight explains the supposedly practical reasons that Homelessness Point In Time (PIT) counts are undertaken. The efforts are not necessarily backed by the bullet-proof...

There's a hint that author Tracy Kidder is worth a read, regardless of the subject. His name on the cover of his new book is as prominent as the...

The homeless are: unable to afford housing for their family afraid of being beaten to death on the street, or in a homeless shelter too lazy to work ...

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) has recently reported that 2021, the first year of the Biden presidency, saw a significant reduction in the number of homeless veterans....

So you're American. Suppose you want to join the military, put your life on the line for your country (and earn the dollars that can lift you out of...

The human right to adequate housing is a noble aspiration. And if communism and socialism have contributed nothing else to humanity, they have at least proven that determined governments...

The Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH) is calling for a homelessness prevention and housing benefit to help bring homelessness in Canada under control. The number of people who are...

An article from New Mexico (linked below) describes an appalling systems failure. Young people in care (the care of the state) are not getting access to mental health and/or...

Researchers in England have done a massive review of evidence about health and social care for people who are homeless. The justification for the review itself comes from evidence:...

Housing First! It's the name as well as the desirable initial action. The Finland-created method for helping the homeless off the streets has been so successful that it's in...

Is it a case of America doing everything bigger and better, or is it a problem of Hawaii running out of road to send the homeless out of town...

In America, large numbers of homeless children do not receive schooling support to which they are entitled. Federal law requires it, but nationally, a considerable number of education districts...

Arguments can be (and are) made about the folly of easing the grinding hell of circumstance that imprisons those without housing: "Governments at every level need to address this homeless...

Look skyward to find Capricorn, the heavenly goat, among the stars. Look to Youtube and search for 'baby goat.' After a little browsing you'll have some idea of capricious...

Myths about homelessness are regularly featured in our posts. There are a set of these myths that are remarkably persistent. It seems important to us at affordablehousingaction.org to debunk...

At affordablehousingaction.org, we have pointed out some of the limitations of point-in-time (PIT) counts of people who are homelessTry: Fatal Flaw In Point-in-time Homeless Counts?. And earlier this year,...

A recent report has been published about housing and homelessness policy in Ireland. The report was commissioned by six voluntary agencies that are on the front line in delivering...

The importance of pets to people who are homeless is well understood by some, and dismissed as an undeserved indulgence by others. Affordablehousingaction.org has voiced support for pets with...

Studies have shown that if you become homeless as a young person, you are more likely to continue experiencing homelessness throughout adult life. So is there a way of providing...

A new-born youth housing project in St. John, New Brunswick is looking towards 1994 for a successful working model. That's when the RAFT opened as a youth drop-in centre...

"Here's a great idea, fellow council members. We can cure homelessness by making it a crime. Then we simply threaten the homeless with a suitable criminal behaviour, say 'illegal...

In child development, ACE refers to Adverse Childhood Experience. Witnessing violence or being sexually abused are two examplesMore details are available at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:...

Lived Experience? Some decision-makers need more of it. Recently, there has been a considerable push for lived experience to back up government and homeless/housing support agencies by those advocated...

What's to know about unaffordable housing, homelessness, and the link between the two? A great deal, as we've been discovering ourselves at affordablehousingaction.org. With the cost of living soaring along...

Isabel McDevitt kicks off her article for The Hill, with the following headline: The typical homeless person in America might surprise you.As she explains it, only one in five people who are...

You have to hand it to health researchers: they are scrupulous when it comes to research. So when an article that documents community-based research comes along, it's a great...

AAHA! Fooled us with that name, didn't they? We were expecting a rabbit pulled from a hat and have instead latched on to a group of Canadian architects, designers and...

With all of the stories about tent clearances that are showing up in the news, here's somewhat more hopeful story from Portland, Oregon. A new centre that will open...

There's well-known a French expression that seems to sum up California's Homeless experience: "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose." The more things change, the more they stay...

Medicine Hat in Alberta, Canada ended Chronic Homelessness in the city in 2021. There was national and international fanfare. What's to be learned from knowing that 'ending Chronic Homelessness'...

As we swing off Toronto's Lakeshore Boulevard away from Lake Ontario, we are caught frequently in a left-hand turn lane, waiting for a green light. Parading beside our car...

Worldwide, the endless stories of failed anti-homeless initiatives make us wonder at affordablehousingaction.org. Just what does it take to make self-righteous citizens and their accommodating city councils realize what a...

The harsh reality we all face in civilized countries: you can't opt out of the census — often not legally, anyway. And why should you want to? It's the...

What's the point-in-time count in your particular district? Conveniently, whatever it suits you to say it is. That's one possible answer to a necessarily haphazard, volunteer-rich process of lifting...

It is so convenient to adopt the conventional neighbourhood attitude to the homeless: they are all druggies with mental disorders and criminal habits. Not only that, they poop, too....

The hand that feeds our blog is, needless to say, the media outlets where we find many of the stories that we pass on to our readers. So why...

Seattle Lawyer Lisa Daugaard is no foe of the police. In 2019 she won a MacArthur “genius” award for her assistance in developing a police-involved court diversion program. It...

Sacramento, the State Capital of California, first appeared on our news radar in 2021. The city was promising a departure from standards of international tent encampment brutality towards the...

This post draws together two very different stories from Wales. The country is part of the United Kingdom, but plotting its own course to address rising homelessnessFor other examples...

A Toronto homelessness story carries us firmly into the land of unexpected results, by way of understanding the evolving nature of homelessness. One description of homelessness is most convenient for...

This post is about data and statistics. It’s also about homelessness among youth and young adults. Why data and statistics? Some of us swear by them, some are skeptical and...

When is a home . . . with a sound roof overhead, with windows and lockable doors and storage space and access to kitchen bathroom facilities . . ....

American President George H.W. Bush's evocative description of charity — a thousand tiny points of light — has a problem. The lights wink on and off at different times....

Affordablehousingaction.org, has been consistently down on Section 8, a.k.a. Housing Choice, vouchers — once upon a time touted as the solution to America's truly affordable housing woes. The current federal commitment...

How quickly civilization fades in a deteriorating empire. Only a few decades ago, arguably the greatest country in the world could imagine a civilization without slums. To achieve it,...

"Winnipeggers deserve to feel safe where they live work and play" These remarks were made during a recent funding announcement by the provincial government in Manitoba. Some of the funding...

The results are in for Aspire — the first Australian social impact bond to address chronic homelessness. Aspire provided three years of intensive treatment and support for 575 people...

Harris County, Texas has had a Housing First program since 2011For more information about Housing First, try: What Is Housing First? Why Is It So Popular? and A Handbook...

Young and Homeless because of substance use mental health aging out of care mistreatment at home pure adventurism financial mismanagement relationship breakdown . . . . The list of possible...

Cities across Canada are clearing encampments. This post is about two different investigations of clearances that have taken place. The first is by students at Wilfred Laurier University, who have...

The New Yorker Magazine is providing some free reads at the moment. Hopefully, you'll catch one before they close the window, because what follows is a fascinating story of...

The following story was born when videographer Claire Hannah Collins made a proposal to the Los Angeles Times. As the video developed, Gale, a Staff Writer at the Los...

'Supportive housing' has its supporters and its detractors. The article linked to this post is by supporters. In this case, the supporters are researchers from the Urban Institute. The...

A hopefully balanced opinion piece (if such a thing can exist) from Ohio's Akron Beacon Journal helps unscramble some thoughts about 'hands on' private activism as a means of...

For cities world-wide considering their options for dealing with persistent homelessness, the article linked below offers some useful comparative insights. It describes the efforts in two medium-large cities in...

In 2021, a famous international agency, UNICEF, stepped in to provide emergency food for students at a school in England. Why did this become necessary? At the time, the UK...

Supportive housing is supposed to be part of the solution to homelessness, not contributing to it. It's supposed to be the magic space where people who have been homeless...

The John Howard Society of Ontario provides support to people who are affected by the criminal justice system. Their mandate also includes research and public education. The Society's report...

A recent school shooting in Texas resulted in the deaths of 19 students, 2 teachers, and the wounding of others. Within a day, anecdotes about the life history of...

So what's the homeless score in Murderland? How many upstanding citizens have been done to death by homeless people — angry, drug-fueled and/or otherwise crazed? How many hapless homeless people have...

Governments in Canada and the United States are devotees of service coordination as the way to fix homelessness: by working together, we can all be more effective. In both...

Nearly a year ago now, the Texas legislature with the stroke of a pen turned the homeless into criminals. Of course, the law didn't quite say that. Instead, it...