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Looking for the latest homelessness news?
This regularly updated page curates local and international headlines on visible homelessness, urban responses, public space concerns, and private property challenges. From new anti-loitering tools to controversial enforcement tactics, this is your fast way to track what’s happening
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SleepTrailer – A low cost experiment in Oregon.
(22 June 2025) “He wanted to build something that didn’t have a lot of bells and whistles, but ensured that someone could have a space of their own.” – A simple 8 unit trailer with basic bed space and lockable storage so that people can sleep safely.
Instead of insisting that any solution provide “wrap around services”, or conforming with every building code, and talking about “housing first” as if it’s the only solution, why don’t we accept that even something this basic is better than sleeping on the street.
Alternative approach to homelessness and mental health services.
(22 June 2025) You will never see a person living on the street in Singapore. That’s because Singapore considers homelessness inhumane. Place those who can’t care for themselves in Singapore’s 2010-bedded Institute for Mental Health which features 50 inpatient wards and seven outpatient specialty clinics. Compared to: Los Angeles County Correctional Health Services operates 26 health centers and four acute care hospitals, employing 23,000 staff at an annual cost of $6.2 billion per year. As of the end of 2022, 43 percent of the inmate population was receiving mental healthcare and 20 percent were diagnosed with a serious mental illness.
This article highlights two starkly different approaches to homelessness and mental illness. In Singapore, people with serious mental health issues are institutionalized in purpose-built facilities. In the U.S., they’re far more likely to end up in jails and prisons. The piece doesn’t shy away from hard truths and forces us to consider where society “stores” its most vulnerable.
It’s also a reminder for property owners and small business leaders: a high percentage of unsheltered individuals struggle with untreated mental illness. That doesn’t mean you have to accept loitering or dangerous behavior near your shop, but it does mean you need to be careful.
Sleeping Bus
(20 June 2025) “Scott Billue, founder of Matthew’s Hope, unveiled the organization’s latest initiative — “sleeping buses” — which are old tour buses gutted and converted into mobile dormitories. Each unit will offer air conditioning and sleeping quarters for up to 20 people.”
Another low cost solution that deserves a second look. There is no discussion however of what to do with personal belongings or pets.
Liability for Inaction
(17 June 2025) “the City of Tucson can be held liable for failing to abate the “public nuisance” resulting from a homeless encampment.” and “Holding municipalities financially accountable for the public nuisances created by failed policies and floundering leadership.”
A cautionary tale about holding policymakers accountable for failing to address the street homelessness crisis. Property owners are now successfully suing municipalities for their inaction in managing homelessness impacting their businesses.
Affordable and stable housing alternative
News Article from 90.5 WESA, (6 June 2025): Allegheny County’s 500 in 500 initiative — an effort to move people out of homeless shelters and into affordable, stable housing. After twelve months, county officials said, 396 people have moved into 276 units of housing.
Keywords: Homeless, 500 in 500
“The number of people counted as experiencing homelessness in Allegheny County on the night of the Point-in-Time count has risen steadily since 2021,” according to the county’s 2025 report. This update reminds us that Point-in-Time (PIT) counts are imperfect tools. They can vary not just between regions, but sometimes even from year to year within the same community, depending on who conducts the count and how it’s done. Allegheny County (pop. ~1.2M) reported 218 unsheltered individuals, while Vallejo, CA (pop. ~120K) reported more than twice that number. Allegheny deserves credit for its work, but any analysis of homelessness news should include a close look at the methodology behind the numbers.
Vans
(21 June 2025) A new San Jose policy intended to target individuals who rent RVs to homeless residents is being extended to penalize people sleeping in their vehicles.
There are ~800 RV dwellers across San Jose, and safe spaces for 128 vehicles.
San Jose plans to select up to 30 temporary tow-away zones and 10 permanent sites to clear RVs for street sweeping and cleanup.
San Jose’s expanded crackdown on so-called “vanlords” and vehicle dwellers reflects a larger trend in homelessness policy: targeting symptoms rather than root causes. Yes, vanlords can exploit vulnerable people, but they’re also an economic response to a deep housing shortage. Renting an old RV is safer and more stable than sleeping in a tent or on the street. When cities remove informal shelter options before building realistic alternatives, they don’t solve homelessness, they just displace it. This is type of homelessness news article shows a city leadership that doesn’t understand basic economics, or simply doesn’t care.