Bulletin Board
The place where you can stay up to date with the latest events, stories, news, and opportunities for our City Relief community.
Week 6: An Invisible Crisis that Requires a Visible Response
Mental health is something I don't fully understand. Serious mental illness runs in my family, and chances are, it touches yours too. Maybe you've lived through a difficult season—depression, anxiety, or something harder—or walked with someone else through it. Mental illness is more common than we admit, and more complex than it appears.
Week 5: What We See, What We Judge: Substance Use Disorder, Homelessness, and Compassion
I've seen more track marks than I'd care to admit. I've poured bottles of liquor down storm drains handed to me by guests on their way to rehab. I've also lost dear friends to overdose, and it's heartbreaking when someone is finally ready for help, but can't access it due to insurance issues or restrictive Medicaid coverage.
Week 4: Mental Healthcare on the Streets
I met Maria in Harlem on a brisk April day in 2020. The city had come to a standstill. The world was telling everyone to "stay home," but Maria didn't have one. We were standing under the Metro-North tracks on Park Avenue, handing out meals in a city that had shuttered itself. As an organization, we didn't know what the consequences would be if we kept showing up. But we knew what would happen if we didn't.
The Vicious Cycle — How Homelessness Causes and Is Caused by Mental Illness
We like clean categories—stories that move neatly from cause to effect. But homelessness and mental illness defy that logic. This isn't a one-way street. It's a loop. A feedback cycle. A system that wears people down until even the strongest begin to break.
Week 2: A System Designed to Fail — How Deinstitutionalization Fueled Homelessness
When we look at the intersection of mental health and homelessness, we have to start with a critical turning point in U.S. history: the deinstitutionalization of psychiatric hospitals. Beginning in the 1960s and accelerating through the 1980s, states across the country closed large-scale mental health institutions with the promise of replacing them with community-based care.
Unhoused, Not Unwell: Rethinking Mental Illness and Homelessness
"Steve" is smart, articulate, and kind. But years of surviving on the street had aged him well beyond his years. His beard, tattered clothes, and slouched shoulders reflected what his quiet voice confirmed—he was struggling.
A Call to Generosity in Times of Crisis
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, but the topic is way too big to cover in just five Fridays, so I will start next week and dive deeper into the connection between mental health and homelessness through June. For now, I'm pressing pause on the usual themes to talk briefly—and honestly—about something sensitive: money.
The Beautiful Minds That Refuse to Look Away
As Autism Acceptance Month comes to a close, I want to do more than acknowledge the challenges autistic people face, I want to celebrate those who are leading the charge for justice.
Moving from Awareness to Action: Reimagining a World for Unhoused Neurodivergent People
After sharing my last post about the intersection of autism and homelessness, I kept thinking about what happens after we finally see the problem. What comes next? Awareness is important, but it’s not enough.
Autism, Homelessness, and the Safety Net We Still Don’t Have
When I first started working on the streets of New York City and New Jersey, I was 24. I didn't have kids. I knew almost nothing about autism—especially how overwhelming noise, bright lights, and chaos could be for someone with sensory sensitivities.
Autism, Developmental Disabilities, and Homelessness
His name was Wes. He was in his late forties or early fifties, living in one of New York City's largest shelters on Ward's Island. Every Friday and Saturday, he’d come to our Harlem outreach, dropped off by a city bus, which transported residents into Manhattan to look for jobs, go to appointments, or simply pass the time.
The Overlooked Crisis of Period Poverty
At outreach in New York City, it is not uncommon for women who are experiencing homelessness to approach me and ask if I can help them access menstrual products. These requests are often whispered, almost as if they're ashamed to ask. But there's nothing shameful about needing basic hygiene—it’s a human necessity.
Megan’s Resilience—and Why It Shouldn’t Be This Hard
This week, I want to continue our conversation about the realities of homelessness for women by highlighting the immense challenges single moms face as they try to juggle work, school, and childcare—all without the stability of a home.
From Survival to Stability: The Fight for Safe Housing After Abuse
Women escaping domestic violence often face an impossible choice: stay in a dangerous situation or risk homelessness. With shelters full, affordable housing out of reach, and support systems often broken by abuse, many women are left with nowhere to go.
Women & Homelessness: Breaking the Cycle of “Stuckness”
One of the first women I met doing outreach in New York City was Tricia (not her real name). She was in her mid-forties, trying to escape a cycle of trauma, addiction, and violence. Taking methadone for opioid recovery, she also needed anxiety medication for PTSD, but the combination left her drowsy and vulnerable on the streets. Shelter rules forced her outside during the day, leaving her exposed to dangers she couldn't fend off. She couldn't work, couldn't stop treatment without unbearable withdrawal, and most of all—she couldn't find a way out. She was stuck.
The Power and Impact of Our Words
Words matter. I have seen firsthand how our guests at City Relief can often be described with language that would dehumanize and demoralize any of us. Let’s face it, the words we use to talk about people inevitably end up impacting the way we engage with people.
Understanding a Living Wage
This month I have been focusing on employment and specifically on how simply "getting a job" when you’re experiencing homelessness is rarely as easy as it sounds. Today I want to talk about the meaning of a "living wage" and its profound connection to homelessness
A New Hope with Open Hiring
Today, I’d like to tell you about one innovative solution to this problem that some companies are starting to explore and implement to create more equitable access to some kinds of jobs that don’t require specific training or experience: “Open Hiring.”
The Working Unhoused: A Reality That Needs Our Commitment
For the month of September, we turn our focus to an often misunderstood and overlooked aspect of homelessness: employment. The notion that all homeless folks need to do to get off the street or out of a shelter is just work hard and “get a job” and their problems will be solved is deeply ingrained in our society. Unfortunately, it’s rarely that simple.
Breaking Barriers: Helping our Friends Have Access to Equal Job Opportunities
As the seasons change, we at City Relief are shifting our focus to a pressing issue that connects directly to homelessness: employment. This month, we want to unravel the intricacies of how the current employment system inherently discriminates against unhoused people.