Using smartphones to better understand homelessness

Jan 24, 2019
In Southern California, where homelessness is high, a new app gets better data.
A woman pushes her walker past tents housing the homeless in Los Angeles, California.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

Big tech companies have an affordable housing problem

Jan 17, 2019
Microsoft is the latest tech giant to fund affordable housing projects in the white-hot real estate market where they are based. As part of a community building initiative in Seattle, Microsoft is pledging $475 million in low-interest loans to support housing construction projects over three years, with another $25 million marked for homelessness. There has […]

My Economy: Housing the homeless during the winter

Dec 20, 2018
"Here in Manchester, we say you're two paychecks away from homelessness."
Eleanor Watts with her dog Dexter.
Leisha Santorelli/Marketplace

At some Bronx public schools, 1 in 5 students are homeless

Nov 20, 2018
NYC schools plan to spend $28 million on personnel, services for homeless students.
Social worker Carol Graham and Principal Danielle Keane at PS/MS 5 in the Bronx. With more than 700 kids from preschool through 8th grade, more than 150 are in temporary housing.
(Julia Simon/Marketplace

As homelessness rate rises for elderly, some finding shelter in cars

Nov 9, 2018
In some parts of the country, like Central Florida, senior citizens make up about 10 percent of the homeless population.
A homeless man for over 30 years, who lives inside his car, repairs a bicycle on Sept. 23, 2015 in Hollywood. 
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
Andrew Loy begs along a sidewalk in downtown San Francisco, California on Tuesday, June, 28, 2016. Homelessness is on the rise in the city irking residents and bringing the problem under a spotlight.
JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images

Voters in a California city weigh taxing vacant properties to help ease homelessness

Oct 11, 2018
If the Oakland measure is approved, it would be the state's first such tax.
Homeless advocate Candice Elder checks in with Dorothy Smith at an encampment in Oakland in August. Smith, who raised her children in the city, said her disability benefits are not enough to afford housing.
Farida Jhabvala Romero/KQED

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When your home is towed away

Sep 28, 2018
For thousands of homeless people living in their cars across California, car impoundment can be the tipping point into joblessness and a life on the streets.
Nearly 15,000 cars are used as homes in Los Angeles County, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. Above, a man who lives in his car repairs a bicycle in the city of LA.
Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Some cities see eviction prevention as a way to reduce homelessness

Sep 26, 2018
In many cities, only a fraction of people facing eviction can actually get legal help.
A homeless woman waits in line to receive groceries and clothing in the skid row section of Los Angeles, California.
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

A shelter in the Bronx is shaking up the homeless shelter model by becoming its own landlord

Aug 1, 2018
The economics of housing the homeless is a tricky equation, especially in New York City, which has a right-to-shelter mandate, meaning the city has to provide a temporary bed to anyone who needs it. Because of demand, the city often houses people in apartments and hotels where accommodations can be spotty and social services nonexistent. […]
A homeless man sits on the sidewalk on a frigid day in Manhattan in December 2017.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images