- Tiny houses in Madison, Wis., offer affordable, cozy alternative to homelessness, By Jenna Ross, March 16, 2015, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “On his day off, Gene Cox rose with the sun, pulled a hood over his gray hair and started a pot of coffee. Deep sleep was still new to him. His first night here, in late February, Cox awoke every two hours, looked around and realized that he was no longer living in his van — which, in cold months, required routinely waking to turn the key and blast the heat. Cox now has a house. A tiny one. But all 98 square feet are his…”
- With extended hours, Minneapolis shelters hope to reduce homelessness, By Marion Renault, March 16, 2015, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “Dave Baker shares a bedroom with more than 60 other people, so he knows how precious a good night’s sleep can be. ‘The guy next to you could be snoring, he could be on the phone,’ said Baker, 48, who has been staying at the Higher Ground Shelter in Minneapolis for 14 months. ‘You may be up at 2, 3, 5 and 11 the night before. Any sleep you get in here is a benefit.’ Baker also knows what it’s like to wake up before the rest of the city, since Twin Cities homeless shelters have historically pushed residents out the door around 7 a.m. because of staff shortages or the need to prepare the space for its daytime use. Now a $100,000 contract from Hennepin County has permitted two Minneapolis shelters — Catholic Charities’ Higher Ground and Simpson Housing Services — to extend their hours so that residents don’t have to depart at the crack of dawn.
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty