-
At least 73 dead in South Africa building fire
At least 73 people are dead and dozens more injured after a fire ripped through a five-story building in Johannesburg, South Africa.
-
Boston City Council punts Mass. and Cass ordinance to public hearing
The Boston City Council quietly moved one of the most-talked-about issues in the city into its legislative process Wednesday with little discussion in the chamber, rejecting an attempt to immediately adopt the mayor’s strategy for addressing encampments in an area that’s at the center of the state’s opioid epidemic. The council sent an ordinance from Mayor Michelle Wu related...
-
ArtLifting: Painting a brighter future for artists
It all started with an idea from a young woman volunteering in a homeless shelter in the Boston area. She was shocked and a bit shaken to see a closet filled with high-quality, saleable art. Then her creativity kicked in. Liz Powers and her brother Spencer launched ArtLifting. The premise: to help artists who are disabled or housing insecure lift themselves...
-
Citizens recognizes ‘Breaktime' for youth summer workforce programming
For over 20 years, Citizens has supported nonprofits giving back to the community through their ‘Champions in Action’ program. This year, they recognized ‘Breaktime,’ an organization that strives to break the cycle of young adult homelessness. Connor Schoen, cofounder, shares how Breaktime is offering career, financial support and classes to achieve this goal.
-
Once unhoused himself, this Boston College grad is on a mission to end homelessness
A recent Boston College graduate is back at it, walking hundreds of miles for 19 days straight. It’s all to raise awareness and money to end homelessness. Just weeks ago, NBC10 Boston featured Gordon Wayne’s mission to raise awareness about homelessness and its impacts. Wayne was unhoused after high school, but he found the support to attend classes at...
-
Homeless Encampments Highlight Need for More Supportive Housing
In the midst of a housing crisis, many in Massachusetts are in need of more support.
-
Rise in homeless encampments highlights need for more supportive housing
Ronald Geddes has lived in this South End apartment in Boston for more than a year and a half. “So I got my air fryer here, I got my microwave here, my coffeemaker. And I got plenty of cabinet space” he says showing us around. If you look out the window, you can see where he used to live. “I…
-
Formerly Homeless Boston College Student Fulfills Academic Journey
A Boston College graduate who was once homeless is now on a selfless mission.
-
Mass. Housing Crisis Pushing More People Into Encampments
About 76% of people who have experienced homelessness in the last year are newly unhoused, according to the Central Mass Housing Alliance.
-
Lost in the Woods: Housing Crisis Pushing More People Into Encampments
On a cold morning in Lowell, Massachusetts, outreach worker Alex Medina walks along the banks of the Merrimack River looking for familiar faces. He walks up a hill into a wooded area with multiple tents. For some of the folks out there, he’s the closest thing they have to a support system. Medina visits almost a dozen of these...
-
Mass. Is Spending Hundreds of Dollars a Night to House Families in Hotels
The Massachusetts emergency assistance shelter system is bursting at the seams as more and more families are in need of help. Hundreds of families are being placed in hotels and the costs are staggering. Massachusetts is the country’s only right-to-shelter state, which guarantees homeless families emergency housing. While the state is scrambling to find more units the NBC10 Boston...
-
Volunteers Hit the Streets for Boston's Annual Homelessness Census
Boston’s annual homelessness census took place on Monday, an event that has volunteers take to the streets to try to get an accurate count of how many people are experiencing homelessness in the city. A group of more than 200 volunteers, including members of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), city and state officials, homelessness services...
-
Owner Closing Manchester Day Care After Nearly 20 Years, Citing Nearby Homeless Encampment
The owner of a day care center in downtown Manchester, New Hampshire, plans to close her business in June. Kristine Larocque, owner of Kindertree Learning Center, has worked in the location for nearly 20 years, but with a homeless encampment growing across the street, she said she felt it was no longer safe. Larocque told NBC10 Boston that homelessness around…
-
Boston Housing Advocates Pleased With Biden's Federal Plan to Reduce Homelessness
The White House aims to reduce homelessness 25-percent by the year 2025. The Federal Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness was released Monday, with three solution pillars—housing and supports, homelessness response, and prevention. The wide-sweeping plan was released along with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) which found 582,462 people were…
-
Burlington's Shelter Pods for Homeless Delayed Until January
The opening of 30 shelter pods for homeless residents in Vermont’s largest city has been pushed back to January. The shelter pod community in Burlington was expected to open in late November, but an official told the City Council on Monday that the schedule has been delayed. The last five shelters are expected to arrive over the next five weeks…
-
Empty Dorms at Salem State to Be Used for Temporary Housing
Vacant dorms at Salem State University’s South Campus will be used to house dozens of homeless families and migrants who recently arrived in Massachusetts. The school closed the Bates Complex earlier this year as part of its long-term plans to sell South Campus and concentrate programming in the campus core. A university spokesperson said the Bates Complex was primarily...
-
Wu Appeals For Outside Help At Mass. And Cass
About half of the people camped in a stretch of Boston known as “Mass. and Cass” most recently resided in another city or town, underlining the regional nature of the addiction and homelessness crises straining the area, Mayor Michelle Wu said Monday. While her administration continues to grapple with how to manage encampments in the area of Massachusetts Avenue and…
-
Talking Mass. and Cass, Wu Shares Difficulties, Is Shouted Down by Protesters
At a news conference Thursday morning to provide an update on the situation at the city’s troubled Mass. and Cass encampment, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu cut her public remarks short as several protesters drowned her out after several minutes. She spoke about 11:30 a.m. at Roxbury’s Clifford Park, which neighbors have unofficially closed after multiple requests for the city...
-
Homelessness Surging in Many US Cities Amid End of Pandemic Relief Measures
Some of the biggest increases are in West Coast cities such as Sacramento and Portland, Oregon. Numbers are also up about 30% in South Dakota and Prince George’s County, Maryland, and 15% in Asheville, North Carolina.
-
Culinary Program Helps Students At-Risk of Homelessness in Vermont
A Vermont job training program is helping students at risk of homelessness with some skills in the kitchen.