He was hunched against the retirement center’s brick wall, his figure illuminated by the light from a single bulb overhead. A hoodie covered most of his face, but by his crouched position, I knew he was young. He was probably one of the homeless in the area, though I’d not seen hi

Like healthcare, homelessness is one of the intractable problems facing our society and it keeps growing.  Local governments have the desire to solve the problem and, to some degree, they have the finances.  What they don’t have is the trust of the client population, people who ha

When I served in public life, common knowledge was that the number of jail inmates swelled in winter.  Desperate to come in from the cold, the indigent resorted to petty crimes and waited for the police to arrest them.  Law enforcement officers became social workers.  Their job was

Walking the streets of my new neighborhood, I saw a sign posted on a telephone pole.  The notice announced a tenants’ rent control meeting.  I could understand why such a gathering was necessary.  Thanks to gentrification, affordable housing has declined at an alarming degree, sh

Not long ago I sat down to lunch with a woman in our community prominent for her advocacy for Hispanic causes — be it for the  farm worker or the illegal migrant  and everyone in-between.  I admire her as a savvy,  caring business women.  Imagine my surprise , during the co

I mentioned in a recent blog that a study in Denmark revealed people active on Facebook were less happy than those who weren’t.  (Blog 12/7/2015)  I confess some of the messages on social media leave me in despair.  Mothers, fathers, children die and beloved pets, too.  Divorce

Yahoo news recently carried an article about a college student who lived in his car during his Freshman year because he couldn’t afford housing.  He talked about the embarrassment he faced because of it, but his experience is far from unique.  Homelessness  is a condition too man

Recently, on his PBS television program, Bill Moyers interviewed two women whose job it is to lobby against lobbyists. As they talked, the pair cited many instances where big money and big government worked together against the interest of the common man. Moyers, a former Washington i