Latest Social services News
Illinois group knits, crochets, sews, quilts for charities
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (AP) — In front of the TV. In waiting rooms. On planes. A group of women in Lake County has spent countless hours knitting, crocheting and, more recently, sewing and quilting to make thousands of handmade items -- hat, scarves, blankets,...
Bill would make it easier for homeless to get state IDs
BOSTON (AP) — A bill approved by the Massachusetts Senate would make it easier for people who are homeless to obtain a state ID. Under current state law, a person experiencing homelessness who wants to obtain a Massachusetts identification card is faced with costly fees and...
Weather brings challenges to homeless Virginia residents
HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) — The voices of men and women cut through the freezing morning air as the northwest side of Harrisonburg was still draped in darkness Monday morning. The light crawled across the parking lot of the grocery store-turned homeless shelter as the sun crest over...
Greater LA homeless count delayed due to omicron surge
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The greater Los Angeles point-in-time homeless count for 2022 has been postponed to late February due to the surge in cases of COVID-19 caused by the omicron variant, authorities said Friday. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority cited the need to protect...
Housing offered to 150 former residents of Boston tent city
BOSTON (AP) — More than 150 people who were living in tents at a homeless encampment in Boston have been offered temporary housing, Mayor Michelle Wu said Thursday, a day after her self-imposed deadline for clearing out the area. “Not a single person was forcibly removed from...
Ex-homeless shelter head agrees to pay $6M settlement
BOSTON (AP) — The former head of a publicly funded nonprofit that runs homeless shelters in Massachusetts has agreed to pay $6 million to settle allegations that he funneled state money to himself by renting properties he owned to the shelter at inflated rates, the state attorney general's office...
Newsom rejects claims his homelessness plan isn't working
PARAMOUNT, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday rejected claims by the sheriff of California’s most populous county that record spending on homelessness initiatives isn’t putting a dent in the problem of people living in the streets and the state isn't held accountable for where the...
Refugee resettlement in South Dakota declining
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The agency that oversees refugee resettlement in South Dakota says there has been a noticeable decline in the number of people resettling in the state over the last few years. South Dakota welcomed 52 refugees in 2021, compared to 439 in 2016, according the...
Author shares message of healing in devotional book series
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Ashley Monique knows brokenness takes many forms, and cuts deep into places others can’t always see. After all, she has lived it. “I had to go through hell and high water to stay sane, to get to where I am today,” Monique said. The...
Former Books-A-Million COO to run against Alabama governor
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Former Books-A-Million executive Lew Burdette, who now heads a nonprofit that provides shelters and group homes for abused women and children, announced Tuesday that he is running for governor of Alabama against fellow Republican Gov. Kay Ivey. Burdette...
