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PATH PartnersJoel John Roberts
Joel John Roberts is the CEO of PATH Partners (People Assisting The Homeless), publisher of Poverty Insights, blogger on Huffington Post, frequent writer of opinion pieces on homelessness and housing, and the author of the book, "How To Increase Homelessness."
Posts by Joel John Roberts
That Cough Could Be Deadly, Especially If You’re Homeless
It sounds like the plot of a Michael Crichton novel. A deadly strain of tuberculosis infects thousands of people in a large metropolis, the vast majority of whom are homeless individuals living on the streets.
I wish this scenario was a work of fiction. Unfortunately, it’s not.
This is Not My Home
We cannot end homelessness with solutions that are temporary. People experiencing homelessness need something real. Something permanent. Something they can call home.
I Wonder…
I wonder if this country could ever imagine, I mean clearly picture, a nation without homelessness. Maybe if we closed our eyes, and saw empty streets and empty shelters, it could actually become a reality.
Are You Really Homeless if a Hurricane Destroys Your House?
When a once-in-a-decade act of God descends on our country’s coastline, commercial and residential properties are inevitably damaged or destroyed by the angry wind and rain.
Super-storms bearing names like Katrina and Sandy wreak havoc on the lives of people who live in their paths. Katrina ruined 1.2 million homes in the South, and Sandy destroyed 380,000 homes in the East.
When the wind died down and the wreckage was assessed, many families and individuals were deemed homeless.
Do I dare ask if these people were really homeless?
Another Homeless Burning: Will We Ever Learn?
Four years ago, I wrote an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times (October 14, 2008) in response to a vicious hate crime in Los Angeles. John Robert McGraham had been homeless on the streets of a mid-Wilshire neighborhood for years. In late 2008, a man tossed a bucket of gasoline on him and set [...]
Good Bye. Hello. The death of activists, the birth of success.
In today’s hurry-up society, we want our microwave dinners heated in minutes and our mail sent electronically in seconds. We want our societal problems to go away within months, not years.
Just go away gridlocked traffic, smog-infested air, deranged shootings.
Just go away homelessness.
Who Cares for the Caregivers?
You are the caregiver. You care when others don’t. So why do funders tire of your compassion? Foundations demand “new ideas” and “new solutions,” as if holding a battered woman’s hand and helping her find a safe place to go is an outdated approach. Some people even think the fact that homelessness still exists at all must somehow be your fault. After all, you’ve worked tirelessly for decades without solving the problem. You must be doing something wrong.
