Fix Homelessness How to rebuild human lives
Author

Marvin Olasky

a-pioneer-family-on-the-frontier-amidst-a-vast-prairie-setting-up-their-homestead-gazes-towards-a-hopeful-horizon-stockpack-adobe-stock
A pioneer family on the frontier, amidst a vast prairie, setting up their homestead, gazes towards a hopeful horizon.
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Author
Marvin Olasky
Date
May 10, 2024
Categorized
Homelessness
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Go West, Young Man (and Woman)

Marvin Olasky
May 10, 2024
Homelessness
We often think westward migration was for males only. In 1862 the Homestead Act allowed land claims from “any person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years.” Women, including those widowed by the Civil War, made one third of all homestead claims. Some men and women who made it to the Midwest and went no further became homeless. Read More ›
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Manhattan Midtown Skyline with illuminated skyscrapers at sunset. NYC, USA
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Author
Marvin Olasky
Date
May 3, 2024
Categorized
Homelessness
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Helping the Manhattan Poor: A History

Marvin Olasky
May 3, 2024
Homelessness
Much of what we hear in national media concerning homelessness originates in the salons of Manhattan, and if we want to understand why our policy savants sometimes go far off course, we should understand the history of New York City’s successes and failures. Read More ›
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Contemplative Silhouette Sitting On Rock In Nature
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Author
Marvin Olasky
Date
April 26, 2024
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The Ups and Downs of Recovery at The Forge

Marvin Olasky
April 26, 2024
The past two months I've written about those making progress at Forge, the Christian shelter I lived at in Joplin, Missouri. But not everyone perseveres. I played disc golf on a sunny day last October with one Forge resident who told me how he had become a devotee of YouTube Satanist channels. For a time, he combined demonic rituals, drug use, and increasingly elaborate drawings of skulls and skeletons. Read More ›
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Colonial Village: The Heartbeat of Early America.
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post
Author
Marvin Olasky
Date
April 19, 2024
Categorized
Homelessness
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Homelessness in Colonial New England

Marvin Olasky
April 19, 2024
Homelessness
Since starting this weekly column in June 2022 I’ve covered lots of topics, including homelessness in late medieval England — but I’ve shorted American history. Since today, April 19, is the anniversary of the battles in Lexington and Concord that started the Revolutionary War in 1775, it’s a good day on which to take a rapid ride through the New England countryside and summarize common responses to homelessness in the 17th and 18th centuries. Read More ›
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Author
Marvin Olasky
Date
April 12, 2024
Categorized
Homelessness, What Works
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The Four Phases of Recovery at Forge Center

Marvin Olasky
April 12, 2024
Homelessness, What Works
Last year I wrote about how formerly-homeless residents of the Orange County Rescue Mission in California could progress through an 18-month program in four phases that give them the readiness to live on their own. Through hard experience the Forge Center in Joplin, Missouri has also come up with four phases, with completion possible in 16 months. Read More ›
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Heroin syringe on rough concrete
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post
Author
Marvin Olasky
Date
April 5, 2024
Categorized
Drug Epidemic, Homelessness, Mental Illness
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Drugs and Homelessness

Marvin Olasky
April 5, 2024
Drug Epidemic, Homelessness, Mental Illness
Last week we gave our third annual set of Zenger Prizes to ten journalists for articles or podcasts that emphasize good street-level reporting and a willingness to see that all human beings have value. One of the winners we announced is Sam Quinones, for an article he wrote in The Atlantic updating his acute analysis of America's drug crisis. Read More ›
abstract-colorful-business-senior-man-homeless-alone-on-watercolor-illustration-painting-background-stockpack-adobe-stock
Abstract colorful business senior man homeless alone on watercolor illustration painting background.
Abstract colorful business senior man homeless alone on watercolor illustration painting background.
Type
post
Author
Marvin Olasky
Date
March 8, 2024
Categorized
Homelessness
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Can a Hobo be Happy?

Marvin Olasky
March 8, 2024
Homelessness
Bumper seems about thirty and has chosen his life because of the freedom it affords. Read More ›