Homeless update May 17,2009

Here are the latest alerts regarding the homeless:

What it’s like to be homeless
Benton County Daily Record – Bentonville,AR,USA
But it’s wrong to call them homeless. They’re houseless. Their home may be
a tent. Or a cardboard box. Or the back seat of an automobile. …

Blending in: Walk through a day in the life of a homeless man
Spartanburg Herald Journal (subscription) – Spartanburg,SC,USA
He met some guys who showed him the ropes of being homeless – ropes he’s
very familiar with these days. Rogers, 60, is just one in a growing
homeless …

SOLUTIONS/WALLIS: Handling America’s homeless families
Washington Times – Washington,DC,USA
By Jim Wallis | Sunday, May 17, 2009 The stereotypical image of
homelessness is a disheveled man, clutching a bottle of cheap wine in a
brown paper bag and …
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/17/solutions-wallis-helping-america-homeless-families/

Homeless woman’s body left behind empty SC house
The State – Columbia,SC,USA
AP CHARLESTON, SC — Authorities say they have arrested a homeless man in
the death of a woman whose naked body was found in the backyard of an
abandoned …

Charges in Kankakee beating death of homeless man
Chicago Tribune – United States
AP KANKAKEE, Ill. – A 31-year-old Decatur man has been indicted in the
beating death of a homeless man in a Kankakee park. Caleb Atteberry faces
charges of …

Suspect is held in homeless man’s fiery death in Los Angeles

This is just the sort of story I feel will be on the rise as the economy continues to get worse.  From what I have been able to determine attacks on the homeless are on the rise. There are more and more articles popping up more frequently across the nation regarding these attacks. The attack that took place in Los Angeles is particularly heinous.

John Robert McGraham, seen in April 2006, was doused with gasoline and burned to death Oct. 9 on the sidewalk near 3rd and Berendo streets in the Mid-Wilshire area. He was 55.

By Hector Becerra and Richard Winton

January 23, 2009

The detectives assured his family over and over that they would catch the man who splashed gasoline on their homeless brother, John Robert McGraham, and set him ablaze on a Mid-Wilshire street corner last fall. But the man’s brother, David McGraham, wasn’t so sure.  More…

Fatally Beaten Homeless Man Lives On in the Songs He Sang

Yoshio Nakada spoke little English beyond song lyrics.

In church, he communicated with a whispered “Silent Night.” In the soup kitchen each morning, it was a jovial “Home on the Range.” And with his caseworker, it was a hearty rendition of “Danke Schoen.” More…

OPB Airs Interview Concerning Attack On Oregon Homeless Man

Police describe 43-year-old Andrew Gonzalez as a transient. He told investigators that on July 31st, he met 19-year-old Samuel Morton, 16-year-old Shawn Glancy, and 17-year-old Rauno Helmik. When police were called out on reports of an assault early the next morning, they found a badly beaten man in a rocky area by the Willamette River.  More…

Teens Target Homeless

The  search continues tonight for a fourth person wanted in connection with a series of attacks this month around Pontiac. Meanwhile, three juveniles remain in custody, accused of killing one of the victims. More… More on the same story here.

Attacks against Homeless People on the Rise

From Civilrights.Org:

In their new report, “Hate, Violence, And Death On Main Street USA,” the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty found that attacks against homeless people in the United States rose by 13 percent from 2006 to 2007.  However, the actual number of attacks is probably even higher, because many are never reported.

News about Homeless January 6, 2009

Merced City Council postpones homeless camp eviction
Merced Sun-Star – Merced,CA,USA
By SCOTT JASON Merced residents and a city councilman questioned the help available to the area’s homeless people during a tense and contentious meeting …
See all stories on this topic

Pontiac teens charged in deaths of homeless men
Detroit Free Press – United States
… FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER  January 6, 2009 Two Pontiac teenagers are to stand trial in connection with the August beating deaths of two homeless men. …
See all stories on this topic

Homeless families rise 22% in a year
Boston Globe – United States
By Milton J. Valencia The number of homeless families living in Boston has jumped for the fourth straight year, making children without a home the …
See all stories on this topic

Savannah-Chatham police to sweep homeless camps
WTOC – Savannah,GA,USA
By Don Logana – bio | email SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) – There are small cities of homeless within the City of Savannah and now some may have to look for a new …
See all stories on this topic

City Shelters See Rise In Homeless Families

As the times get worse cities will find their shelters filling to capacity and running out of space. Already cities are seeing a rise in homeless families not just individuals. Here is a report from New York.

NEW YORK, NY December 23, 2008 —At the end of November the number had risen to nearly 10,000.
The Coalition for the Homeless, a local advocacy group, says the number of new families showing up each month started to increase about five months ago, and now it’s the highest it’s been in 25 years.
Natasha Mitchell and her boyfriend arrived at a Bronx intake center today seeking help.

And here is another.

Families With Children in City Shelters Soar to Record Level

By TRYMAINE LEE Published: December 22, 2008

The number of homeless families with children entering New York City shelters hit a record high last month, climbing more than 40 percent from the same period last year, according to figures released on Monday by the Department of Homeless Services.
The total number of homeless families living in the municipal shelter system at the end of last month also hit a record high of 9,720, the highest number since the city began reporting such data more than 25 years ago, according to the Coalition for the Homeless, an advocacy group that analyzed the city’s monthly report on homeless services.

More and more homeless are becoming fatalities of the recession especially as we enter winter and some vicious storms. This report is from Salt Lake City.

S.L. County » 54 died this year; many preventable with more housing, health care.
By Brooke Adams
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 12/22/2008 08:56:29 PM MST
Douglas Davies died on the street where he lived, alone and, at death, anonymous.
It was days before police learned his identity. No obituary marked his passing last May.
But on Monday night at Pioneer Park, a small crowd of caregivers, politicians and the East High School choir gathered to remember Davies and others who died down on their luck, troubled or lost and without a permanent home.

As is the usual course of events when times get hard shoplifting and crime increase. Here is a report from the New York Times.

As Economy Dips, Arrests for Shoplifting Soar

By IAN URBINA and SEAN D. HAMILL Published: December 22, 2008

Richard R. Johnson is the first to admit it was a bad idea.
Recently laid off from a job building trailers in Elkhart, Ind., Mr. Johnson came up a dollar short at Martin’s Supermarket last month when he went to buy a $4.99 bottle of sleep medication. So, “for some stupid reason,” he tried to shoplift it and was immediately arrested.