It was one of those nights when I was challenged by Pope Francis’ insightful observation in The Joy of the Gospel: “The Gospel tells us constantly to run the risk of a face-to-face encounter with others, with their physical presence which challenges us, with their pain and their pleas.”

How young people end up homeless and what happens to them once they’re on the street are basic questions for those who want to end homelessness. 

VANCOUVER – Three Vancouver women have left career and school behind to serve the homeless.

VANCOUVER – “You will look like a new man!” 

I have become used to the cacophony which inhabits the downtown of the city and usually treat it as background noise as I walk around. 

In 2006, after 20 years of stellar work with the Out of the Cold program to shelter the homeless, its co-founder was not impressed.

SAN FRANCISCO – As San Francisco prepares to consider a ballot measure to boost taxes for services to aid the homeless, a U.N. investigator has classed the treatment of the homeless in San Francisco and the Bay Area as a human rights violation.

The summer had been warm and humid, and unlike many churches that can afford air conditioning, the church on the street had to find its own way of surviving the muggy evenings. 

EDMONTON – Frank “Bushy” Stegemeier is struggling.

Abby Pyrz was 18 years old when she was bitten by the travel bug. 

The umbrella organization for hundreds of St. Vincent de Paul councils in parishes across Canada is getting ready to step into the national spotlight.

It is wonderful the theology we learn in coffee shops.

It may be time to consider closing Out of the Cold, said the man responsible for managing the 30-year-old church-based shelter program.

Since 2009, Edmonton, along with 12 other Canadian cities, has been implementing a Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness. Unlike other “plans,” this one does not merely set a target and hope it comes true; solid work is being done to provide housing and prevent future homelessness.

Socks, toothpaste, tampons, tissues and a handwritten note from a teenager aren’t likely to rewrite a life story that includes  sleeping in shelters, seeking comfort in opioids and waking up in the emergency room at St. Michael’s Hospital.