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PATH PartnersWhen you think about it, the organizations working to help those people who are forced to beg on our streets really aren’t that different.
We, the benevolent caretakers of people hurting on the streets, do our own form of panhandling. We send out letters asking for money. We tweet and post our stories on Facebook, hoping they will inspire people to give a few dollars. We talk about the people we serve with generous philanthropists, with the goal of receiving a big check.
One quick encounter became the inspiration to perform courageous acts of compassion for generations. That guy from Samaria, famously known as the Good Samaritan, picked up a hurting man along the side of the road to help him. That hurting man was the “enemy,” from another tribe, another religion. It would be like Romeo’s mother [...]
In England, they are called Social Impact Bonds. Here in the states, they would be called Pay For Success Bonds. The simple explanation is that the federal government would issue “social bonds” that private investors could purchase. The money would be invested in social programs that show a cost savings to society. If programs meet their goals, investors get a return on their investment.
I am no longer surprised when I receive an email from a nonprofit group announcing their dissolution of operations. More and more charity groups are going out of business. Typically, these organizations are small, with little capacity to weather this current economic storm.
Public and private sector leaders arrived at this year’s National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) conference knowing that change would be the paramount topic. With a fragile, ever-changing economy that has drastically affected hurting Americans and the agencies that care for them, the notion of embracing change comes as no surprise.
I can only imagine losing my job, then my house, then ending up sleeping behind a trash bin behind the local grocery store. What I cannot imagine is waking up in the dead of night by a swirl of red lights and a jab in the ribs from a cop’s billy club. And then to be legally ticketed for being homeless just seems wrong.
Is it against the law to lose your employment, your house, and to desperately find some safe and warm place to sleep outside? I don’t think so.
When I was a child, every day at six o’clock in the evening our family of six sat at the dinner table for our ritual end-of-the-day meal. Each of my siblings would rotate saying the simple family prayer. The unspoken rules for the meal were simple – arrive on time, eat everything on your plate, [...]
I got my start in the social sector volunteering at a homeless shelter. Despite the good intentions of the agency I worked at, it quickly became clear to me the services provided to the unhoused residents were inadequate. I recently started reading “Out of Reach: Place, Poverty, and the New American Welfare State.” The book [...]
