The Homeless Brief

The Coalition routinely tracks news and policy related to homelessness in Colorado and across America. Highlights from March, 2011 are below.

IN DENVER, MOBILE CLINIC FOR THE HOMELESS RETURNS

PBS.org, Rebecca Jacobson, March 16 - Two weeks ago, Ruby Lau was in a lot of pain. Luckily for Lau, last week she happened to be at The Gathering Place, a daytime drop-in center for homeless women in Denver, when a mobile health clinic run by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless arrived.

MOBILE SERVICES MAKING RURAL POVERTY A LITTLE MORE BEARABLE
Gazette.com - Barbara Cotter, March 25 - Poverty challenges people no matter where they live. But a hard life is made harder for Hughes and hundreds of other financially strapped people who live on the eastern plains of El Paso County, where unending stretches of two-lane dirt roads connect one small town with few social services to other small towns with few social services.

COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS: THE LOCAL PRESCRIPTION FOR BETTER QUALITY AND LOWER COSTS
National Association of Community Health Centers, March 2011 - A new report outlines the critical importance of community health centers in communities working to end homelessness and improve overall health outcomes.

NEW REPORT SHOWS THAT RECESSION HAD SUBSTANTIAL IMPACT ON COLORADO CHILDREN
EdNewsColorado.org - Rebecca Jones, March 10 - More than a quarter – 28 percent – of Colorado’s children live in a family where no adult has full-time employment. And in 2010, there were more than 18,400 homeless students enrolled in public schools in Colorado, up 53 percent from the 2006-07 school year.

HOMELESS CHILDREN: THE HARD TIMES GENERATION
CBSNews.com - Scott Pelley, March 6 - American families have been falling out of the middle class in record numbers. The combination of lost jobs and millions of foreclosures means a lot of folks are homeless and hungry for the first time in their lives.

HELP HARD TO FIND FOR FEMALE VETERANS
Star-Telegram.com - Alex Branch, March 9 - Clara "Ruth" Gordon, an Air Force veteran, spent four years homeless, living in shelters along East Lancaster Avenue.

BARBARA BOXER RIPS PROPOSED CUTS TO HOMELESS VETS HOUSING
SFGate.com - Kevin Fagan, March 23 - Never one to mince words, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer had many choice ones today for the Republican plan in Congress to eliminate housing aid to homeless military veterans nationwide. None were complimentary.

ENDING HOMELESSNESS: A MODEL THAT JUST MIGHT WORK
NPR.org - Pam Fessler, March 7 - More than 30 years ago, a nonprofit was launched in New York City to try to find permanent housing for chronically homeless people in Times Square. Now it has a national campaign that some people think could be an important first step toward ending homelessness in America.

Last Updated: November 23, 2011