Story Search Results

Advanced Search

There are so many ways to search the solutions journalism stories in this database. Explore our searchable fields:

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 8 results for your search. View and Refine Your Search Terms

Unhoused: Status Quo

Emma Athena

November 05, 2020 |

Boulder Weekly |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Boulder County, Colorado

Housing First has successfully been implemented in cities across the world to reduce the number of people sleeping on the streets but in Boulder County, the approach has not been nearly as effective. The lack of affordable housing has resulted in just a small percentage of unhoused people accessing a place to live, while services for those who do not make the cut have been drastically reduced. While plans to create more affordable housing are in place, the Housing First approach in Boulder County has led to a reduction in homelessness services and only one homeless shelter stands.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Managing scarcity

Emma Athena

October 29, 2020 |

Boulder Weekly |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Boulder, Colorado

In Boulder, Colorado those working to address the increasing rate of homelessness are reallocating resources to support longterm housing options as opposed to the traditional temporary services – such as shelters. Although there are challenges to this approach and it's too early to gauge the longterm reality of this approach, early results from the method have shown that consolidating resources has reduced operational costs while housing over 450 people.

Read More
Go to Original Story
A tiny house, a big step

Emma Athena

October 01, 2020 |

Boulder Weekly |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Boulder, Colorado

Tiny home communities across several American cities have helped alleviate homelessness amongst veterans with the work done by the Veterans Community Project (VCP). The organization has successfully housed and served homeless veterans by designing and building tiny home villages which partner with existing local organizations to provide wraparound services to help keep people off the streets. VCP has successfully deployed the housing-first model in Kansas City, Portland, Detroit, and LA and is now breaking ground in Boulder County for its latest project.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Gaining traction: With an eviction crisis still on the horizon, sanctioned overnight parking lots provide temporary relief

Emma Athena

September 10, 2020 |

Boulder Weekly |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Boulder, Colorado

The nonprofit Homeless Outreach Providing Encouragement (HOPE) began SafeLot, a program providing an approved parking lot where people living in vehicles can spend the night safely. Safelots have sprung up nationwide, particularly during high unemployment thanks to the pandemic. In Boulder, they've created tension with the regional agency charged with reducing homelessness. Its Housing First approach, emphasizing more permanent housing solutions, strikes some as contradicting safelots' shorter-term fix. Safelot advocates say it offers stability that acts as a bridge to a more settled lifestyle.

Read More
Go to Original Story
An incomplete picture

Emma Athena

August 27, 2020 |

Boulder Weekly |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Boulder, Colorado

Housing First, an approach that has helped many cities address homelessness, has failed to make much impact in Boulder thanks to a shortage of permanent housing and complaints that the program suffers from a lack of coordination and ignorance of the views of the community it's trying to serve. Boulder County housing authorities and non-profits teamed up in 2017 to shift toward permanent housing and other services for people experiencing homelessness, rather than the previous policy of providing temporary shelter beds. But most people remain unserved by both temporary and permanent solutions.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Courts rule

Emma Athena

August 20, 2020 |

Boulder Weekly |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Massachusetts

Almost half of U.S. states guarantee citizens’ rights to petition for ballot measures, but the coronavirus made gathering signatures in person infeasible. Massachusetts courts allowed electronic signatures, but other states have not approved virtual citizen initiative campaigns. Ballot initiatives allow citizens to advance solutions and enact structural changes without relying on support from elected officials. MA groups used DocuSign to gather 30,000 signatures to get a proposal for ranked choice voting on the ballot. Not all MA groups were able to quickly or successfully pivot to the e-signature process.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Criterio de los tribunales

Emma Athena

August 20, 2020 |

Boulder Weekly |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Boulder, Colorado

En el 2020 Colorado, no había logrado que las de peticiones para obtener un sitio en la boleta electoral de 2020 se realizaran de manera electrónica, a pesar de estar viviendo una pandemia. Otros estados de Estados Unidos tampoco lo lograron. Pero Massachusetts si lo logró. El artículo compara estas realidades.

Read More
Go to Original Story
On dangerous ground

Emma Athena

August 06, 2020 |

Boulder Weekly |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Boulder, Colorado

When an eviction moratorium expired and the government's pandemic aid spigot closed, Boulder County nonprofits and public agencies mounted a coordinated response to address a looming homelessness crisis. A gusher of donations created an eviction legal defense fund, a rental assistance program, and other aid to people struggling to pay utility and food bills. In just three months, 800 households received help in forestalling evictions while thousands more received legal and humanitarian services. Despite the community support, housing risks remain without a resumption of emergency government aid.

Read More
Go to Original Story