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PATH PartnersJoel John Roberts
Joel John Roberts is the CEO of PATH Partners (People Assisting The Homeless), the LA Homelessness Examiner writer for Examiner.com, publisher of Poverty Insights, frequent writer of opinion pieces on homelessness and housing, and the author of the book, "How To Increase Homelessness."
Posts by Joel John Roberts
Broken Social Safety Net is Making Americans Sick
I work within a few office spaces away from a waiting room filled to the brim with people that are so impoverished they have resorted to living on the streets. Those of us on the front lines battling homelessness in America know that the so-called American social safety net is tattered.
An incredulous gasp is my only response when a presidential candidate, worth a quarter of a billion dollars, publicly states on national television that this country has a “very ample safety net” for poor Americans.
Homeless Counts Should be Counting Backwards
In the darkness of early morning, the counting can be monotonous, an exercise that almost puts you to sleep. I have written before about the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) mandated homeless counts that occur throughout this country during the month of January. Municipalities have to count their homeless population at least every other year, or they will lose their HUD funding. Some cities count every year.
Counting how many people are languishing on our streets, however, is good. How can we address a sad human tragedy without knowing the extent of the problem? How can we know if we are successfully reducing the number of people on our streets without regularly assessing our work through counts?
Bashing the Homeless: When Pinkberry Becomes Punkberry
What is this country coming to when a guy in a car chases down a homeless man and pounds him with a tire iron, just because they exchanged angry words? Sounds like the old Wild West where guns were the primary mode of justice, or today’s drug cartels terrorizing its people just south of America.
You would think the guy in the car was some young, angry teenage male wanting to harm homeless Americans just for the thrill of it, a sad trend in this country.
Killing Homeless Stereotypes in Orange County
At first glance, he appears to be the stereotypical image of a killer of homeless Americans. He is young, male, angry, and has short hair, almost to the point of being a skinhead.
Since 1999, the National Coalition for the Homeless has documented nearly 1,200 violent crimes against homeless Americans with one in five ending up dead. Nearly 90% of the perpetrators were male, and 80% were under the age of 25 years old.
Could Skid Row Turn into Death Row?
There is a different sort of fear permeating the homeless streets of Southern California these days. Not the fear of temperatures dropping in the middle of the night, especially in this balmy winter weather. Nor worries of going hungry on these streets where a faith group feeds the homeless on practically every other corner or park.
If you are homeless in Orange County or its adjacent county in Los Angeles, there is a frightfully valid concern of being stabbed in the middle of the night.
Top Ten Ways Homelessness Could Increase in 2012
As this year ends, the confusing tallies of homelessness in America persist. Take the Federal Government’s perspective on enumerating homeless people in our country, this past week their “point in time” estimate found a 2.1 percent decline in homelessness from a year ago. Not surprisingly, national leaders credited their efforts for the decrease.
Two days later, the U.S. Conference of Mayors released their survey of hunger and homelessness in American cities. They reported a 6 percent increase in homelessness, along with significant increases in people accessing food pantries and shelters.
Homeless College Students Encounter Real Life Tests
When you walk into your dorm room for the first time as a college student, or onto campus for your inaugural class, you feel like you are crossing the threshold of an exciting new future.
Hanging out in the student union all night, heading back to your dorm or apartment at any hour, and writing dissertations on real life issues that you are passionate about are central parts of the college experience. The freedom, the understanding that you are building a foundation for an amazing career is at the core of higher education.
Homeless Thanksgiving, American Style
The smell of turkey lingers in the house from morning to evening. The plate settings are positioned and the television channel is set for the first football game. America’s annual day of thanks has started.
Editorial pieces and blogs spew their traditional message concerning homelessness in America. “One day is not enough!” they write. Feeding and helping homeless Americans should be year round. Who can argue with that?
New Types of Tent Cities Prevail in America
Years ago, camping in a tent was part of America’s vacation routine. As a kid, I learned how to prop up a pup tent and pound the tent stakes in the ground. It was a scouting ritual.
Americans flocked to KOA campgrounds, and if you were lucky enough you may have been able to nab a highly popular camping reservation in Yosemite National Park.
