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Jake and Chris stare uncomfortably at the privilege they experience every time they leave their houses, never worrying about whether the place will be there when they get back. Far more than just a roof overhead, it is everything those structures conjure up for them. Feelings of safety, security and relaxation - a place of one’s own - to organize and set up as they see fit.

Most of their housed neighbours (or neighbors) feel the same way but, unsurprisingly, that does not extend to the unhoused community members living in tents at local parks and green spaces. Communities want “their” parks back; unhoused neighbours want dignity, safety and respect – and shelter.

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Unhoused or Homeless?: “Recently, advocates and researchers have begun to question the usage of the term “homeless,” particularly when used as a collective noun (“the homeless”). While the term is still widely used—and in some cases, preferred—by community members and the media, some argue that the term dehumanizes the people experiencing homelessness and flattens their identity into one stigmatized characteristic.”

Heaviness of Homelessness: “Social scientist Eric Weismann, who has lived experience of homelessness, says that people underestimate the mental-health impacts of being homeless. He describes the cruelty of the promise of support and housing that simply doesn’t exist or exists with a long waitlist, as well as the inability to feel safe due to the constant policing. “You’re in survival, anxiety mode all the time,” he said. “It doesn’t mean you’re a bad person, making bad choices. It’s not like you can make good choices. Good choices (like being housed) are not there.”

To Protect and Serve: “Some members of the public see the existence of encampments as a significant physical threat to the city as a whole due to the negative connotation that surrounds them. These negative attitudes often result in sweeps, which are the closing of tent cities and the forceful transfer of personal property into police or city custody. Additionally, some municipalities seek out court injunctions to mandate the destruction of encampments and the forced eviction of tenants. These tactics are often justified by claiming that encampments are not houses as they are not sanctioned by the city, do not have proper sanitation facilities, are fire hazards, and are not connected to the electrical grid.”

Pick one - CSR or ESG?: “Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is no longer just admirable business practice, it’s a demand. People are more socially conscious than ever before. A recent study by Business Wire revealed that more than a third of buyers globally are prepared to pay more for sustainable products. So, what is corporate social responsibility in detail? CSR defines the activities companies maintain to have a greater global positive impact. Developing a CSR model helps companies report its efforts to itself, stakeholders, staff, the public and the environment (local and worldwide).”

Podcast Recommendation – The Health Disparities Podcast – GUEST – Fr. Greg Boyle: “We somehow blame people for their own deaths, we blame people for their own misfortune, and it’s really, peculiar. We don’t have any kind of reverence for how complex poverty is - the disparity is. We have no reverence how the poor have to carry more than anybody else and yet, we want to demonize it. We want to get it to a place where we think it’s really about people’s moral bankruptcy.”