On Thanksgiving Day, when my sons and I sit down for dinner, we will be joined by a gentleman who spent the past 12 years living the harrowing life of an unhoused person. While living on the streets, he suffered…
Caring for the unhoused changed this California church
When Twin Lakes Church in Aptos, Calif., made the decision to increase local outreach efforts, its leaders didn’t realize how serving their unhoused neighbors would change them along the way. For Robin Spurlock, outreach associate director, serving unhoused individuals in…
Ending homelessness is a humane priority
The Trump administration recently issued a sweeping executive order on homelessness that dismantles support for the “housing first” model. The order pushes communities back toward punitive approaches, tying housing to mandatory treatment or abstinence, expanding involuntary institutionalization and even encouraging the criminalization…
Bullying homeless people isn’t just wrong, it won’t work
I hate to admit it, but I used to hold the same view of homeless people many other folks seem to have. Most of ‘em are winos and druggies, I thought. Headcases and drifters. Derelicts pestering me for money on…
The word of the Lord to Donald Trump
We read from Isaiah 1 on Sunday, and the prophet didn’t mince words about Judah’s need to repent, not just of personal sin and idolatry but of remaining silent in the face of rampant injustice and oppression: Wash and make…
How a teacher’s kindness can change a student’s life
I was a fifth-year senior, which was one of the most embarrassing times of my life. It meant I hadn’t finished high school in the usual four years, and I would be required to go back to the same high…
Criminalizing humanity — turning Good Samaritans into lawbreakers
In a nation that often prides itself on Christian values, humanitarian outreach and freedom, an alarming trend is unfolding: Compassion is being criminalized. Law enforcement officers would detail, arrest and/or take Jesus Christ and all his disciples to jail for…
Trump tries to criminalize homelessness
Claiming the nation is under threat from unhoused people, the Trump administration has announced “a new approach” to ending homelessness that includes expanded police powers and mass incarceration. “Shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the…
‘The Gift of Christmas’ and other over-the-top celebrations of Jesus’ birth
A few weeks ago, I woke up to a text message saying it had snowed overnight, despite there having been no measurable snowfall in North Carolina since 2022 nor any forecasts of snow for that morning. Intrigued, I looked out…
As COVID aid expires, homelessness spikes across America
Soaring housing costs, rising poverty and the end of COVID-era relief checks and eviction protections contributed to a spike in homelessness in the U.S. last year, according to a study by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. More…
Supreme Court hears case that could empower cities to fine people for being homeless
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments April 22 in a case that could decide if homeless people can continue to be fined or jailed for sleeping outdoors even when shelter space is unavailable. Under review are rulings by the…
At holidays, LGBTQ youth homelessness spikes
The holidays may be winding down, but for some LGBTQ youth, year-end celebrations mark the beginning of a very different season: experiencing homelessness. According to Marian Edmonds-Allen, executive director of Parity NYC, a faith-based organization focused on healing divisions between…