Press Room

Homelessness in the city has gotten worse in the five years since the Hurricane Katrina, not better according to a new report by the homeless advocacy group Unity of Greater New Orleans.

REDF, a San Francisco-based venture philanthropy organization dedicated to transforming lives by creating economic opportunity through social enterprise, today announced it has been awarded $3 million by the Corporation for National and Community Service under its Social Innovation Fund (SIF).

The philanthropic, community-building model of development isn't going to spread wildly. But it's a catalyst for other investment and a stabilizing force, so the effect of just of a few of these mixed-income development projects in Hartford is huge.

A Boston nonprofit focused on ending homelessness is launching a campaign today to push the state Legislature to limit the amount of time families live in emergency shelters and free up funding to help them move to permanent homes. The Paul and Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation said it is releasing a paper, “Ending Family Homelessness in Massachusetts,’’ to ignite discussion about the state’s policy to house eligible needy families in emergency shelters.

Much like the Great Depression, when millions of previously working people came to rely on a new social safety net for their sustenance, a swelling group of formerly middle-class Americans like Mr. Moore, 30, is seeking government aid for the first time. Without help, say economists, many are at risk of slipping permanently into poverty, even as economic conditions improve. The question is whether the modern-day safety net has enough money and the right initiatives to aid those who need it most.

Today, Fannie Mae released results of the Fannie Mae National Housing Survey, a comprehensive research project that surveyed more than 3,000 consumers to assess their confidence in homeownership as an investment, the current state of their household finances, their views on the U.S. housing finance system, and their overall confidence in the economy. The research shows that, despite the recent downturn in the housing sector, Americans continue to value homeownership and think about their homes in ways that go much deeper than the financial investment. The survey also found that the public strongly believes in the importance of upholding the financial commitment involved in buying and owning a home, even during these challenging times when home values have fallen.

As long as there have been homeless people sleeping in Times Square, there have been social workers and city officials trying to persuade them to leave. In the past, the homeless were offered a free ride to one of the city’s warehouselike shelters. These days, workers for nonprofit groups help people move into apartments, keeping track as the number of the chronically homeless in Times Square goes down. According to their records, by 2005, there were only 55. Last summer, it was down to 7. Now there is one.