Resources
Welcome to The Brown Bag Project resources page where you can find information about our past and future monthly team meetings, topics of discussion and current events.
We request you submit an application in order to attend our team meetings, RSVP without applications will not be allowed entrance into meetings.
Feel free to learn with us.
Approaching Crisis:
The Housing Situation
Source: Turken, Sam. “Worcester's Homeless Population Rose 43% over the Last Year, Officials Say.” News, GBH, 23 June 2022, https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2022/06/22/worcesters-homeless-population-rose-43-over-the-last-year-officials-say.
First Meeting
Worcester, the second largest city in MA, has had a 30% increase in the population that is affected by homelessness between 2020 and 2021 due to lack of affordable housing, increase in poverty, low wages, increase in mental illness and substance abuse and lack of services and of course a global pandemic did not help.
These images show a homeless camp alongside the Blackstone river in Worcester that was cleared in October and a person sleeping on a bench, also known as rough sleeping.
Rough sleeping is the most visible form of homelessness. It is typically associated with sleeping outside, but can also refer to sleeping in a place not designed for living, such as benches, empty buildings and cars.
Father Joe Carroll went from handing out peanut butter sandwiches to opening a $12 million facility known as the Joan Kroc Center in San Diego, California. This facility the first of its kind, included not only housing for families and single adults but also a medical clinic, childcare, meals and job training all in one place.
His revolutionary approach by listening to those experiencing homelessness to what they required to move off the streets is what allowed this comprehensive homeless service agency to be created.
Empathetically-correct words:
Homeless can be used as an adjective, however avoid the dehumanizing collective noun, such as the homeless, instead opt for people without housing or people experiencing homelessness.
Know the Facts:
