homelessness

Getting COVID-19 vaccines into the arms of all Americans is hard enough. But vaccinating homeless communities poses additional challenges that are even trickier to overcome. They include getting homeless people to mass vaccination sites or bringing the vaccines to the streets, as well as overcoming their mistrust of health officials. Ben Oreskes, a reporter with the Los Angeles Times, joined...

Homelessness is a crisis among young people in the LGBTQ community. The problem is even more pronounced among transgender people — about a third living in the U.S. become homeless at some point in their lives. Casa de Zulma is the first publicly-funded home for trans people trying to get out of homelessness. Yusuf Omar of Hashtag Our Stories...

With temperatures in the single digits no one wants to be outside, but for some people it’s not a choice.  “I could die out here, you know what I mean. I could die. That’s how cold it is,” Nathaniel Meadows said. Meadows is currently living at the Immacare Shelter on Park Ave in Hartford so he’s protected from the...

It’s been a challenge to find people safe places to stay during the COVID-19 pandemic because the shelters have limited their capacity due to social distancing.

An L.A. program called Step Up on Second is driven by the philosophy that stable housing is the first step to changing the lives of people struggling with chronic homelessness and mental illness. The program, which was supported by Kobe Bryant before his death, operates a motel-turned-shelter that offers full studio apartments to the people it serves. Among those helped...

Scott Sowle and Daniel Buenaventura may have little in common at first glance. Sowle is an advocate for people experiencing homelessness and Buenaventura is a college student studying nursing. But the two men are linked by a chance encounter and a common thread that runs through their lives. Both have turned their greatest grief and hardship into inspiration to spend...

Homelessness is poised to surge in the coming weeks and months as Americans face continued economic turbulence and a pandemic-inspired eviction moratorium expires later this month. But vital housing assistance may not be fully available to families that don’t meet the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s definition of “homeless.”

Taylor Swift, Cher, Billie Eilish, LL Cool J and Dolly Parton are adding their voices to Cyndi Lauper’s annual concert to combat youth homelessness, an issue its organizer says has only gotten worse during the pandemic

With the state’s eviction moratorium set to end before 2021, organizations working in housing are concerned about a potential increase in Connecticut residents who could be on the brink of homelessness. According to a survey conducted by the US Census Bureau last month, nearly 9 million Americans say they are behind on rent. In Connecticut, more than 107,000 people say…

Nonprofits in Southeastern Connecticut are concerned about what will happen when the eviction moratorium ends.

As the country heads into winter and it becomes more difficult for people experiencing homelessness to safely remain outdoors, shelters face a major challenge preparing for the increased demand the drop in temperatures will bring while observing restrictions to prevent coronavirus outbreaks, NBC News reports. Homeless shelters have had to adapt this year, with most reducing the number of people allowed...

Kids from the Glastonbury Newcomers’ & Neighbors Club collected socks to donate to those experiencing homelessness in the Hartford area.

Before the pandemic, an annual charity event on L.A.’s Skid Row founded by “Jane the Virgin” actor Justin Baldoni gave people affected by homelessness an opportunity to enjoy some essential services and small luxuries that many of us take for granted. Yusuf Omar of Hashtag Our Stories takes us to the Carnival of Love.

Community members in East Haven worked to make sure a stranded veteran got the help he needed.

Homeless seems to be on the rise in Connecticut in the middle of the pandemic, but hope is on the horizon in Hartford where Immacare will reopen its 75-bed shelter in the coming weeks. “It’s not like I just became homeless overnight. I definitely made some poor choices. Things just start slipping away,” Ryan McNulty said.  McNulty was a...

A church on Park Street in Hartford has been renovated to be a shelter for the homeless and a place to help them get back on their feet.

With colder nights on the horizon, area warming shelters are preparing to open under COVID-19 restrictions. The Windham Region No Freeze Project will reopen for the season on Nov. 1. The shelter usually warms 30 to 40 people a night. However, this year, the team has to worry about protecting people from the elements and from COVID-19. With dividers in…

Shelters will have to take extra COVID-19 precautions as the weather turns colder and they see more homless people moving indoors.

There were 2,000 people in homeless shelters at the beginning of the pandemic, but COVID-19 forced shelters to reduce capacity and use hotel rooms to socially distance. But advocates are looking for more permanent solutions.   “At this current point in time, I literally live under the bridge going from Hartford to East Hartford,” Amber Otero said. NBC Connecticut met...

Homeless advocates marched up to the Mayor Bill de Blasio’s home on Sunday to protest the city’s decision to remove some 300 people living in hotels configured for temporary housing. As a way to contain the spread of COVID-19 among the homeless population in the city, de Blasio used hotels — which were not holding almost any guests during the…