Bulletin Board
The place where you can stay up to date with the latest events, stories, news, and opportunities for our City Relief community.
A Wide Open Door Can Only Help When You Can Find It
Last week, I wrote about the difference between Disney and the DMV—and why our processes should always exist to serve people, not the other way around.
But there is another question we need to ask: What about the people who never make it through our doors in the first place?
We can create the most welcoming church, compassionate nonprofit, or accessible social-service program imaginable. We can improve our signs, simplify our paperwork, train our volunteers, and fill our buildings with people who genuinely care.
All of that matters.
Our Process Exists to Serve People—Not the Other Way Around
Disney and the DMV are both effective organizations, but they make you feel very different. My kids would vehemently protest if I invited them to spend an afternoon running errands with me. Tell them we’re going to Disney, however, and I’d get a very different response.
At Disney, nearly every detail is designed around the guest experience. Signs help you find your way, employees anticipate your questions and are trained to make every problem less… problematic. There are shops offering food, toys, and games, and there are characters everywhere ready to pose for photos. The environment communicates: “We knew you were coming, and we’re glad you’re here.”
What If We Need The Poor More Than The Poor Need Us?
For years, I assumed my role was simple. I had something to offer. People experiencing poverty had needs, and my job was to help.
Then one afternoon in the South Bronx, everything changed.
I met a man sitting alone on a street corner. He was an older African American gentleman with a gray beard and a scar that permanently closed one eye. I offered to bring him a bowl of our famous City Relief soup. He politely declined. I offered him a hot chocolate. Again, he said no.
Running out of ideas, I asked, “Would you like me to pray for you?”
He smiled and replied, “No thanks… but I’d like to pray for you.”
Give. Volunteer. Advocate. Pray.
Summer is a strange season to lead a nonprofit. On one hand, I love it. The days are longer. Churches send mission teams. Students volunteer. Families gather outside. There’s an energy to summer that feels hopeful.
On the other hand, it can be one of the most challenging seasons for organizations like City Relief. When school lets out and families head on vacation, routines change—including charitable giving. Consider this: research suggests that roughly 20–30% of annual online giving can happen in December alone, with as much as 10% occurring in the final three days of the year.
Why We Hide Homelessness When the Circus Comes to Town (or the World Cup)
If you are anything like me, you probably got swept up in the excitement of the World Cup over the last six weeks. You may or may not know that I grew up in the West African country of Cameroon, where football—or, as Americans call it, “soccer”—is basically a religion.
I’ll never forget the collective citywide groans and cheers I witnessed as a kid whenever the Cameroon national team scored a goal (or almost scored a goal), or when a referee made a questionable call on the pitch—or “field.”
4,991 is Just The Tip of the Iceberg
4,991. That’s the number of people counted sleeping on the streets of New York City on the night of March 10, 2026—the highest HOPE Count since the survey began.
If you’ve been reading these newsletters, you know I often describe homelessness as an iceberg. The people counted in the HOPE survey represent only the visible tip. These are our neighbors who, for any number of reasons, cannot remain in traditional dorm-style shelters. Many are living with serious mental illness, substance use disorder, or both. But they didn’t simply appear on the streets overnight. Most have spent years trying to survive while navigating a maze of fragmented services, outreach programs, hospitals, and interactions with law enforcement.
Trauma is A Part Of The Story | Veteran Homelessness Week 3
Over the last two weeks, we've explored barriers veterans face when accessing housing, healthcare, and other support. We've discussed missing documentation, complex systems, and the difficulty of navigating resources while in crisis.
This week, I want to explore something less visible: trauma.
Before we go further, it's worth acknowledging that the word trauma is used frequently these days. Sometimes it accurately describes genuinely life-altering experiences. Other times it's used more casually for situations that were uncomfortable, frustrating, or disappointing.
As a result, many people have grown skeptical of the term. The more broadly it's applied, the harder it can be to recognize and respond to trauma when it's truly present.
Veteran Homelessness And The Three Barriers That Fuel It | Week 2
Last week, I wrote about the progress our country has made in reducing veteran homelessness. Since 2010, veteran homelessness has been cut by more than half nationwide!
That's remarkable progress.
But it also raises an important question: If housing programs, healthcare benefits, disability assistance, and other resources exist specifically for veterans, why do thousands of veterans still experience homelessness every night?
After fifteen years of street outreach, I've learned that the challenge is often not the absence of help. It's access. At City Relief, we regularly meet veterans who qualify for support but struggle to obtain it. While every story is different, three barriers come up again and again.
Housing First, Not Housing Only - Our Efforts Week 4
So even though help technically existed, it remained out of reach. That gap between eligibility and accessibility is where people like James get stuck. Which brings us to one of the most talked-about approaches to homelessness: Housing First.
Housing First began in the early 1990s through the work of Sam Tsemberis in New York City. At the time, most programs required people to prove they were “housing ready” before being given access to permanent housing.
Housing First flipped that.
How a Story About Starfish Tells the Tale of Homelessness. Our Efforts Week 2
A few weeks ago, I was having breakfast with a longtime donor, and we found ourselves circling a familiar frustration: it feels like all the money New York City is spending on homelessness isn’t actually making a dent.
I get why it feels that way. A recent Washington Post headline said it plainly: Spending More Money on Homelessness Isn’t Helping. In March of 2025, City Relief was pushed out of our weekly outreach location on 14th Street in Manhattan. A local developer threatened our partner with a cease-and-desist, arguing that our two-hour pop-up was attracting more people experiencing homelessness than it was helping transition into stability.
Why Our Efforts to Solve Homelessness Are Falling Short (Week 1)
I met a woman last week at our Chelsea Park outreach. I’ll call her “K.”
K is articulate, soft-spoken, and in her forties. She’s the kind of person you could stand next to in church, sit beside on the subway, or pass in line at Starbucks and you wouldn’t think twice. She doesn’t panhandle, use drugs, or experience mental illness (at least not from what I could tell).
She graduated high school and took some college classes. She’s thoughtful, aware, and doing her best to navigate a system that often feels impossible to understand. And yet, K is experiencing homelessness. She’s currently living in a shelter, trying to survive on about $200 a month in SNAP benefits and $22 a month in cash assistance.