American Made: Pulitzer Prize-winning Author Matthew Desmond on How Society’s Well Off Benefits from Other People’s Poverty

Man lying down next to shopping cart in a store

by Nathan Poppe

Matthew Desmond has lived through or lived alongside poverty for much of his life. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author and sociology professor has made it his latest mission to focus not only on the lives of the poor in America but also how the rest of the country persistently benefits from them. His new book Poverty, By America lays out how many lives are made small to make room for others to grow,

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Anti-Homeless Violence

The New Lynchings of the 21st Century

Updated on May 16th to reflect current developments

What does Walgreens carry on its shelves that could be worth a human life? Banko Brown was a young Black trans activist who had been unhoused in San Francisco for a decade. In his volunteer work and community organizing with the Young Women’s Freedom Center, he consistently advocated for basic access to services, and was beloved by his community. 

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Analysis: U.S. Food Benefits for Poor to Shrink as Pandemic Provisions End

By Leah Douglas

Low-income Americans will soon receive less in food assistance or completely lose their eligibility for the benefits, as the federal government ends policies adopted at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that kept millions from going hungry at a time of lockdowns and rising unemployment.

Anti-hunger advocates warned that the looming drop in aid could undo progress toward a Biden administration goal to end US hunger by 2030.

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The First Women’s Muslim Shelters in New York and California

by Johanna Elattar

It’s Ramadan, and as an Arab-American Muslim, I’ve always loved this month. Ramadan is the time of year when Muslims all over the world fast, pray and reflect on their beliefs. Every Muslim must give a percentage of their income to charity during Ramadan. I like to give to organizations that support homeless people, as well as animal charities. 

While looking for a Muslim women’s charity to donate to,

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The Forgotten Ones: The Plight of Homeless Women in America and an Interview with Marie

by Johanna Elattar

It’s March: Women’s History Month. We honor women, their accomplishments, and the ongoing struggle for equality and justice. As we remember all the amazing women, I can’t help but think of the forgotten ones. The old woman sitting on a street corner, begging for change from passers by. The young woman doing sex work just to have a little to eat or a place to sleep. The single mother with her child,

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Death on the Streets: An American Tragedy

by Israel Bayer

Thousands of people die homeless every year in the U.S. In this piece, Israel Bayer, who leads INSP’s North American project, and has worked with street papers and people experiencing homelessness for more than two decades, recounts instances where his work brought him face to face with this terrible reality. 

The winter of 2017 Portland, Oregon was hit with an unusually long ice storm.

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Federal Judge Blocks Fresno Ordinance Restricting Public Access to Encampment Sweeps

A tent is in the center of the frame. In front of it is what looks like a white dollhouse, laying flat on the ground. The image is in Black and White

A federal district court has issued a ruling that blocks the City of Fresno from enforcing an ordinance that puts unconstitutional restrictions on reporters, advocates, and other members of the public documenting how city workers treat unhoused people during encampment sweeps.

“The court recognized that this law was unconstitutional from the start because it is vague, over broad, and threatens to sweep in significant free expression protected by the Constitution,” said Hannah Kieschnick,

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A Light In The Dark

In the winter of 2013, I started working at a small Italian restaurant. It was close to where I lived in the Upstate NY town that I had moved to in 2012. My husband and I had left NYC after Hurricane Sandy  destroyed our home and everything in it. I was lucky to escape with just the clothes on my back and my little blind cat, Grumbles. Grumbles was a ginger cat that I had rescued when I found him on a Brooklyn street,

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Food Not Bombs Celebrates 40 years of Direct Action on Sunday, May 24, 2020 

by Keith McHenry

“This cause is a great cause and we’re tired of being treated like dirt. We’re not, we’re human beings. We bleed just like you and we’re good people. We need a safe place and this is a safe place right here.” – Deseire Quintero

Volunteers with Santa Cruz Food Not Bombs wait outside what had been a large homeless camp that welcomed visitors for over one half year.

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Homeless News Round-Up

Homeless People Demand Bathrooms — Berkeley, CA
A community meeting called by Council member Ben Bartlett was attended by nearly 100 members of the immediate area including the Lorin Business Association, Friends of Adeline and Le Conte Neighborhood Association. In visible attendance were about 15 members of First They Came For The Homeless (FTCFTH) including Co-Founder Mike Zint and former Berkeley Mayoral Candidate Mike Lee. This meeting was motivated by a few concerns articulated on Nextdoor.com about the intentional community created in South Berkeley by FTCFTH as part of a mobile protest tour,

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