Interesting Stories About Homelessness

Interesting Homeless News May 27th, 2016

The New York Civil Liberties Union and their co-sponsor Picture the Homeless have filed a complaint against the New York Police Department for telling homeless people to “move along” when they haven’t done anything in violation of any law.  Recently the NYPD has been targeting innocent homeless people for standing or sitting in public places, which is not illegal.  In fact, the police officers are breaking more laws than the homeless people in this crusade as they violate the Community Safety Act, which prohibits profiling based on gender, race, and housing status.

The legendary Skid Row of Los Angeles has recently opened a new permanent housing complex for the chronically ill and mentally ill homeless living on Skid Row.  This $40 million complex was developed by the Skid Row Housing trust.  This new complex is run by the LA Department of Health Services’ Housing for Heath division.  This new complex provides healthcare for the 10,000 residents it aims to assist as well as luxuries such as an indoor track and art studio. Skid Row is the largest concentraion of homeless people outside of jails in the United States.

Senior Pastor Klayton Ko, of First Assembly of God in Red Hill, Hawaii has created 21 fiberglass dome structures for the homeless in Hawaii in an attempt to eradicative homelessness in Hawaii.  They have received a total of $200,000 dollars in funds and donations and plan to make more domes when they get the land needed.

San Diego has re-landscaped under their bridges to keep the homeless out.  The city of San Diego has placed jagged rocks under the bridges downtown in order to keep the homeless from sleeping under bridges.  Advocacy groups are up in arms calling for humane treatment of the homeless and the development of micro communities to solve the problem of people sleeping on the streets.

71 long term homeless residents, and their pets, have been moved from their river side encampment to a converted motel.  The Bridges to Housing Pilot project of West Sacramento has taken a great stride forward in the fight against homelessness through this initiative, which included medical checkups for the pets.

The 14th Homeless World Cup has been announced to be held July 10th-16th on George Square in Glasgow, Scotland.  The tournament will host 64 teams representing 64 different countries including one from the United States.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors allocated $100 million dollars to end homelessness in LA and stop the endless cycle of released criminals and hospital patients from ending up on Skid Row.  This is an editorial from the LA Times that argues the City is committed to working toward an end to homelessness and all the problems associated with Skid Row.  Local leaders claim that they won’t blow it again.

Italy keeps in mind “Les Misérables,”as they decide whether or not it is illegal to steal food from a super market if you are homeless.

 

by Abby Bova

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