Panel discusses resolving homelessness in the East Bay

Over the years, Nella Gonçalves has become very used to hearing a certain question: “Ew, you work with the homeless? Don’t they stink?” Gonçalves is the deputy director of Beyond Emancipation, an organization that helps foster youth transition into lives as independent adults. Gonçalves meets a lot of very young people in very difficult positions;…

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No Easy Answers: Richmond confronts a growing homelessness problem

At least 109 individuals living in Richmond city limits have no home to return. This is according to the annual Point in Time count, a county-wide assessment conducted on one night of the year that tallies the number of people sleeping outside.

But the Richmond Police Department reports encountering up to 800 separate individuals sleeping outside on any given night.

The situation is desperate. Research indicates that homeless individuals live shorter lives, endure higher rates of mental illness, drug addiction, poor health and injury than their sheltered counterparts. Still, people without homes are often dismissed as careless or crazy, the lasting legacy of a stigma that has its roots in the Great Depression era, when welfare programs were introduced in the United States.

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Agents of Change: Scenes of a city in motion

Andromeda Brooks (top left), Jonny Perez (top right), Menbere Aklilu (bottom left), and Najari Smith (bottom right) are four of Richmonds "Agents of Change" working to improve Richmond's community. (Photo by Brittany Kirstin)

Old opinions about Richmond often seem set in stone, but at least some of the worst may be on the way out.

That’s what we tried to document in “Agents of Change,” a series of photographs and feature stories by Richmond Confidential’s Brittany Kirstin, a photojournalism student at the University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

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After hard times, restaurant owner warms hearts in Richmond with love

Menbere Aklilu, owner of the Richmond restaurant Salute E Vita, sits for a photograph at her desk. (Photo by Brittany Kirstin)

Menbere Aklilu has come a long way. From a struggling single mother, she is now a restaurant owner in Richmond, after moving from her native Ethiopia and a time in Italy.

Aklilu hosts an annual Thanksgiving dinner at her restaurant, Salute E Vita, where she just served a sit-down dinner for more than a thousand Bay Area homeless people. She has also begun holding a four-course Mother’s Day brunch for young single mothers. She helps Richmond and Oakland students pay school tuition.

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Of the Street

Christopher W. Bowman

The ground of my second-floor room trembled as trains rumbled over the tracks and horned their approach at every minute. Dogs barked continuously from someplace in a distance and what sounded like a series of rapid gunshots went off. All within the first five minutes of my arrival.

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The table is set: Free holiday meals

For those without a place to stay or food to eat, Thanksgiving may conjure mixed emotions. Several Richmond churches and non-profits are fostering togetherness and nourishment by offering free meals for the community this Thursday. The following locations are linked above. Greater Richmond Inter-Faith Program GRIP will serve Thanksgiving Brunch from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45…

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