In many urban settings, there is a significant unhoused population on the streets. According to the data from 2020, more than half a million people in the United States are unhoused. Many of us want to help but may feel conflicted about how. On this edition of PEACE TALKS RADIO correspondent Emily Cohen explores the…

Wren Fialka stood on a snowy median amid four lanes of traffic on a busy downtown street, three blocks from Interstate 15. She had two tarps set up with donated clothes and shoes for the unhoused, plus tables of toiletries and hygiene kits. It was the week before Christmas, the same weekend Salt Lake City…

Salt Lake City has resources, but advocates say busing is inhumane. As temperatures drop, Teton County is seeing heightened numbers of unhoused residents being cited for trespassing. In response, officials are essentially exporting the valley’s homeless problem. In the last two weeks, Jackson police have received 12 calls about people facing homelessness. The calls come…

As Jackson builds housing, nonprofits lose their places.

By Olivia Green | WeINSPIRE Reporter HERCULES, Ca. — When Wren Fialka was eight-years-old, she met a superhero. The man experiencing homelessness who shared his wisdom with her at a community garden in Washington, DC, became the catalyst for the Spread the Love Commission, her non-profit organization that connects with and shows compassion to people…

The town square in Jackson, Wyoming, is quiet. That’s not unusual during the sleepy spring “mud season” when locals usually head out of town, taking a break before the influx of summer tourists. But this year’s quiet is different. Many of the town’s 10,400 residents are here, but staying home. And there’s one question on everyone’s mind:…

During a typical spring, the small resort town of Jackson, Wyoming, would be gearing up for a lively summer tourist season. Thousands of visitors come here to climb the towering peaks of the Teton Range, raft the Snake River and mountain bike miles of trails — activity that contributes substantially to the town’s economy. But…

More than a few nights last winter, Sandy Carole went to bed wondering if she would freeze to death while she slept. Born in Gillette but native to Jackson since 1960, the 65-year-old mother lives with her daughter, Tracy, 42, and their two dogs in a 20-year-old Lincoln Continental. (The News&Guide agreed to identify Carole…

Across the U.S., homeless people are criminally punished for being in public even when they have no alternative, nowhere else to go. That’s according to findings from a 2014 study by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. The criminalization of homeless people is something Wren Fialka has seen firsthand. Four years ago she…