❗Help close the gap: We still need to raise $40,000 by the end of March. Donate now

HUD announces $5 billion in grants to fight homelessness

Apr 9, 2021
The money can be used for tenant-based rental assistance and property development to create more affordable housing.
Protestors demonstrate against the removal of an encampment in Los Angeles, CA during the spring of 2021. Mario Tama/Getty Images
Mario Tama/Getty Images

How many people have been homeless during the pandemic?

Mar 17, 2021
One measure of homelessness is the annual "point-in-time count." Critics say it falls short of identifying the problem's severity.
Michelle Massie (left) and Haleigh Skaggs (right) walk along a riverside path looking for people experiencing homelessness in Huntington, W.Va., Jan. 27, 2021.
Courtesy of Kyle Vass

Earmarks make a comeback in a closely divided Congress

Mar 12, 2021
Opponents argue earmarks opened the door to corruption and waste. Supporters argue they'll help make Congress more effective.
Sandy Washington, executive director of LifeStyles in La Plata, Maryland. Her group received a $60,000 earmark before the ban.
Kimberly Adams/Marketplace

As poverty rises, South Florida organization for the homeless starts feeding neighbors, too

Jan 19, 2021
The number of people showing up for free hot meals has more than doubled since the pandemic began, the CEO of HOPE South Florida says.
A rise in poverty and homelessness has become a major concern as the pandemic recession has left millions of people without jobs. Above, a person in Miami sleeps on a sidewalk in 2001.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Pandemic could cause twice as much homelessness as the Great Recession

Jan 14, 2021
COVID-related unemployment could cause about 600,000 people to become homeless over the next three years, according to a report from the Economic Roundtable.
Squares painted on the ground encourage homeless people to social distance at a city-sanctioned encampment in San Francisco.
Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images

HUD voucher program funding has helped veterans at risk of homelessness

Dec 11, 2020
Experts say the "housing first" model is an example of how to deal with housing insecurity for all Americans.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced this week it is giving out $46 million more in rental assistance and housing vouchers to help veterans at risk of homelessness.
Kyle Grillot/AFP via Getty Images

Floridians struggle to find good housing amid affordability crisis, pandemic

Nov 26, 2020
In Osceola County, many people are living in motels that offer limited facilities for long-term stays during a pandemic.
A woman looks on as the head of the Kissimmee-Poinciana Homeless Outreach, Barbie Austria, donates essentials to jobless people living in a motel in Kissimmee, Florida on Oct. 15, 2020.
Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

As colder months approach, Maine housing advocates seek new resources

Oct 7, 2020
Maine homeless agencies are stockpiling food, opening temporary shelters and more to meet the need.
A team from the Landing Place, an organization for at-risk youth, prepares bags of food and other supplies for families in Maine's midcoast region.
Robbie Feinberg/Maine Public Radio

COVID-19 makes a difficult voting process for people who are homeless even harder

Sep 22, 2020
The pandemic has limited access to information about how to vote and what the issues are.
People can use the address of a family member, a homeless service provider or even their physical location on the street to register, though it’s difficult to get voter information or mail-in ballots this way.
Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty Images

What it's like to navigate the first year of motherhood without a stable home

Apr 28, 2020
Data can tell us who is on welfare, but not what it's like to to live in the system.
A woman feeds a baby at a Thanksgiving meal hosted by the Bay Area Rescue Mission in Richmond, California, in 2015.
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images