Homelessness

A new report from Portland State University found that a majority of people living in these tiny villages are satisfied, and that neighbors who live next to these communities grow less concerned over time.

Gov. Gavin Newsom introduced a plan in early March that would compel treatment for as many as 12,000 people with severe mental illness and drug addiction — including many experiencing homelessness. Here's how that plan is taking shape.

Enrique Rodriguez Jr., 24, had roughly double the legal limit of alcohol in his blood when he allegedly plowed into a homeless encampment in Salem, Ore., early Sunday morning.

The governor’s new proposal would require all 58 counties to participate in the program to compel people with serious mental illnesses into treatment.

In 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom spearheaded “Project Homekey,” to help counties acquire and convert motels into long-term supportive housing for the homeless. Kaiser Health News reporter Anna Maria Barry-Jester recently wrote about people who are benefitting from the program. In her conversation with JPR’s Erik Neumann, she explains why she focused on rural Del Norte County in northwest California.

Senator Alex Padilla will introduce legislation to pump more than $531 billion into affordable housing projects around the country.

California’s spiraling housing crisis is often understood through the lens of its big cities. But in rural Del Norte County, on California's northwest tip, housing people in precarious situations presents different challenges. Here's how one approach is showing promise.

An environmental group has demanded the city and county of Sacramento remove 750 unhoused people camping out at the American River Parkway by the end of the year, citing multiple hazards tied to the homeless encampments that dot the 23-mile natural corridor.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler is leading a lobbying effort to pressure the state to immediately fund temporary homeless shelters a week after announcing a planned crackdown on homeless camps near busy roadways.

The City of Brookings, Oregon is being sued after the city passed an ordinance that prohibited St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church from serving more than two free meals a week to the homeless without a permit.

Burnout and COVID is causing California homeless service workers to leave. Low pay makes it difficult to recruit new ones. But they’re essential to the state’s plans to reduce homelessness.

In his budget proposal, Gov. Gavin Newsom highlighted his support for cities to remove homeless encampments but conceded it’s only a bridge to permanent housing.