Common Ground - Tackling Homelessness

This week, I had the opportunity to travel with a group of colleagues to New York City to visit two sites that the orgainzation Common Ground is using to provide transitional and peramnent housing for homeless persons in that city. We learned that more than 120,000 persons continue to be homeless across the nation. It's interesting to note that although many of these persons are in cities, many are also in what would be considered suburban areas. Common Ground's apporach to addrssing the problem of homelessness is unique in that the focus is not on providng temporary shelter, but on moving the most cronically homeless toward more permament dwelling and self-sufficiency. I, and many of my colleagues, left New York excited about this appooach and hopeful that it might be replcated in Baltmore. For more information on Common Ground, go to www.commonground.org.