This post inspired this question: What can be done on a community-scale to successfully accommodate our island's homeless population? [more inside]
posted by Mike Mongo on Oct 25, 2009 - 5 answers

How can a homeless person who has been injured (stabbed, for instance) expect to be treated at a U.S. city hospital with no money or health insurance? Surely they wouldn't let him bleed to death? And if they do turn him away, what are his options?
posted by Sully on Feb 1, 2009 - 21 answers

How can I help Southern California's homeless? [more inside]
posted by evil holiday magic on Oct 25, 2008 - 6 answers

Eviction and future plans: My friend is 24, a recent college grad, lives in New York. Her father, mother and 3 young siblings live in a house (in Los Angeles) from which they are about to get evicted at the end of the month, having not paid rent for almost a year. Her father has terminal stomach cancer with a prognosis of 6 months. Her father is a disabled veteran and the family had been getting by on his veterans' pension. Her mother speaks, but does not write in English. My friend now finds herself in the position of figuring out how to handle this situation. For the hivemind: Are there programs, veterans' or otherwise, she should know about? General advice? We're at a loss for easy ideas.
posted by the jam on Aug 14, 2008 - 7 answers

How to be homeless? Yes, step one, lack a home. Then what? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Jan 15, 2008 - 81 answers

I'm looking for good books about other people's misery. [more inside]
posted by kmennie on Jan 23, 2007 - 37 answers

What are some good charities in NYC that work with the homeless? [more inside]
posted by boltman on Dec 5, 2006 - 6 answers

Imminent homelessness as of Saturday 10/28. [more inside]
posted by attackthetaxi on Oct 26, 2006 - 40 answers

Inspired by this question. I have one of my own. When is it ok to "liberate" a dog from a situation that may or may not be harmful to the animal? Specific example from my neighbourhood inside. [more inside]
posted by yellowbinder on Aug 11, 2006 - 32 answers

How do I interpret CPI (consumer price index) in the following table? [more inside]
posted by frankie_stubbs on Jun 8, 2006 - 7 answers

More American urban sociology: I live in a city with a diverse mix of ethnicities and cultures. How come the only people I ever see begging for spare change are either white or black? Why do I never see asians or hispanics begging? Is this a real cultural phenomenon, or am I just making false conclusions based on a too-small sample size? [more inside]
posted by kenoshakid on Apr 21, 2006 - 13 answers

I ride the Paris metro every day to get around the city, and I've only recently noticed a strange phenomenon. At two different metro stops I've seen homeless people repeating the word "seven" in English over and over again at random intervals. I can't think of any French words it could be that I might be mishearing, especially since the 'n' is very pronounced and the vowels sound English enough. Can anyone explain what's going on here?
posted by themadjuggler on Apr 15, 2005 - 38 answers