by Pat Hartman | Dec 8, 2015 | Uncategorized
A state and some cities have declared a state of emergency. Traditionally, such a designation would come after a natural disaster, but this time, the reason is homelessness. It doesn’t mean they get federal money— not unless the federal government itself declared the...
by Pat Hartman | Dec 1, 2015 | Uncategorized
Out in California’s Coachella Valley desert, about 75 people are about to be evicted from their huts and tents. The California Department of Transportation doesn’t want them on its land. The ostensible reason is a concern for safety because, Paulina Rojas...
by Pat Hartman | Sep 22, 2015 | Uncategorized
To speak of the crime of “Breathing While Homeless” is no joke any more—not that it ever was. In the late 1880s, singly and in groups, thousands of jobless, impoverished people roamed the countryside. The homeless wanderers were called tramps, and in Wisconsin...
by Pat Hartman | Aug 25, 2015 | Uncategorized
Faceless force: police officers strut between Austin’s homeless shelter and Salvation Army building. On August 6, something interesting and potentially very significant happened. A federal court case filed in the District of Idaho in 2009 is just now being considered,...
by Pat Hartman | Aug 18, 2015 | Uncategorized
The Weingart Center is a venerable Skid Row institution that offers shelter, job training and counseling. Los Angeles Times writer Sandy Banks interviewed Maxene Johnston, who was in charge of it for 10 years, and learned this: Her time in the trenches...
