Bulletin Board
The place where you can stay up to date with the latest events, stories, news, and opportunities for our City Relief community.
The power of giving yourself for the sake of someone else
We live in a culture that celebrates self-sufficiency. Figure it out. Handle your own problems. Don’t ask for help. It sounds like strength. It even feels right sometimes. But on the streets, that idea doesn’t last very long.
One Friday in Harlem, I was helping someone with a referral when a fight broke out right next to me. One man accused another of talking to the police. Within seconds, it escalated—shouting, then a punch, then chaos. And I froze. Clipboard in hand. Blood on the page. I didn’t step in. I didn’t know how. But someone else did.
Lessons from Kilimanjaro (Week 4) - No One Summits Alone
The longest day of the climb started at 5:00 a.m. By God’s grace (and the power of modern medicine), I woke up feeling much better than the night before. I still didn’t know if I’d attempt the summit, but I knew my only way down… was up.
The plan sounded simple on paper: climb the rock wall above camp, follow the ridge for hours, descend into a ravine, climb back out, grab a quick lunch, and push to base camp. From there, we’d rest briefly before a midnight summit attempt.
When I stepped out of my tent, the wall loomed above us looking dark, steep, and unforgiving. Derrick, one of our guides, looked at me and said something that felt less like advice and more like a promise, “You stay with me.”
Lessons From Kilimanjaro: When the Only Way Down Is Up (Week 3)
The storm had passed by morning, but the mountain hadn't made any promises.
The sky above camp was wide and blue, almost offensively calm. If you hadn't been there the night before, you would assume everything was fine, but my body knew better.
The violent shaking was gone, but I wasn't restored. My appetite had disappeared, my head felt heavy, and my legs felt hollow — not weak exactly, just empty.
Lessons from Kilimanjaro - What a Storm and a Lost Bag Taught Me About Vulnerability (Week 2)
Last week I wrote about rhythm — how the mountain forces you to slow down.
This week is about the storm.
WEEK 7: Disability Discrimination & the Systematic Exclusion of People Who Are Different
I had planned to land the plane on this series about the complexity of homelessness—why the tidy stories we tell ourselves are incomplete and, often, harmful. But last week, I only brushed up against a reality that deserves far more attention: the intersection of disability discrimination and homelessness, and the quiet ways people are excluded from support long before they ever fall into crisis.
WEEK 6: He Had Heart Surgery. Then He Was Back on the Street.
This week, I want to zoom in on another layer of complexity that makes accessing safe and sustainable housing so difficult: healthcare, mental health services, and long-term care for aging or disabled loved ones.
WEEK 5: Those Who Don’t Know History Are Destined to Repeat It
Over the past few weeks, I've written about the complexity of homelessness—why congregate shelters aren't a solution for everyone, why creative approaches matter, and why the data we track doesn't always capture the full reality of the problem.
Underneath all of it is a more fundamental question: How did we get here, and why is homelessness so hard to fix?
WEEK 4: Why Counting Homelessness Isn’t the Same as Ending It
Part of the challenge in addressing homelessness is that many of our public conversations focus on managing the most visible effects of the crisis rather than understanding the deeper systems that keep people stuck in it. In city halls, community board meetings, and policy discussions across the country, the way we measure the problem often shapes what we believe is possible in responding to it.
WEEK 3: Creative Solutions for a Systemic Problem
Last week, I shared some of the reasons why traditional shelters don't work for everyone, and why sleeping outside is not usually a first choice, but a last resort.
So the question becomes: what are the alternatives, if any?
WEEK 2: The Shelter System That Pushes People Outside
I'll never forget the first time I toured the Bellevue Intake Shelter in New York City when I began working at City Relief.
Walking toward the former psychiatric hospital—now the primary intake point for single adult men entering the city's shelter system—I immediately felt uneasy. The building looked like something out of a Batman comic, the kind of place designed to contain danger rather than do any good.
WEEK 1: Why One-Size-Fits-All Fails
Over the years, I’ve noticed something about how we tend to talk about homelessness: We want it to be simple.
We want one solution. One program. One policy. One clear fix that, if implemented well enough, would finally “solve” the problem.
I understand the impulse. Complexity is exhausting. Nuance takes time. And when human suffering is involved, we’re understandably eager for answers that feel decisive and hopeful.
But, like most things on this side of heaven, homelessness is not simple—and pretending it is often does more harm than good.
The Growing Faces of Homelessness
I hope 2026 is beginning with a sense of hope and anticipation for you. A new year always invites reflection—and for us at City Relief, it also brings clarity. After a brief pause between Christmas and New Year’s, our team is back on the streets of Newark, Paterson, and New York City, stepping into what we believe is a pivotal year.
The Power of Not Walking By
This week, I want to go a step further and talk about how loneliness is interrupted not just by noticing people who are struggling, but by choosing to engage with them.
The Cold Some People Can't Escape
Have you ever felt the kind of cold that sinks all the way into your bones? Not the quick shiver you get walking to your car, but the kind of chill you can't shake with a hot drink or an extra blanket?
What happens when the first snow falls and you have nowhere to go?
It got cold this week. Not sure where you're reading this, but in New Jersey and New York City we saw the first snow flurries of the year. It reminded me of my first winter doing outreach with City Relief back in 2010. I was still working part-time at Starbucks but went out as often as I could to serve alongside our team.
Responding to hunger with hope and celebration
People are hungry and scared, and we need to respond.
The question is…how?
Over the next six weeks, City Relief is hosting two really powerful events designed to help our community respond with both compassion and celebration.