Nova Scotia: like many places in the world, Nova Scotia is struggling to deal with homelessness and poverty. There were a number of homeless encampments in Halifax, and the government took steps to deal with this, although not always successfully. The stories I have been following were around building new places to live and getting rid of the encampments, like these:

• Halifax plans for new places to live in response to homeless encampments
• Halifax starts cleaning up encampment sites 
• Final tent removed from Victoria Park in Nova Scotia
• Halifax closing five tent encampment sites
• There’s a new homeless shelter in Halifax but the province is struggling to fill it
• Thoughts from the Halifax encampment residents
• Halifax designates staff to support volunteer groups residents 
• On the pallet shelter community in Halifax (seen below)
• On the conversion of the Waverley Inn Hotel into supportive housing
• Not just in Halifax:  municipalities working on housing solutions rural Cape Breton as well.

The rest of the world: while I was focused on what was being done in Nova Scotia, I also have been following stories on poverty and homelessness in the rest of the world

• Encampments aren’t just an issue in Nova Scotia: federal housing advocate report tent encampments 
• Like in Nova Scotia, part of the plan in Toronto is to continue to use shelter hotels for the near term
• Here’s a story on how in the US parts are criminalizing homelessness. Talk about a losing solution.
• Here’s a piece on what is being done in Los Angeles (image below)
• Two stories on homelessness and mental health: here and here.
• That said, one of the leading causes of homelessness is affordable housing:  housing unaffordable for record half all US renters study finds.
• Lack of space in shelters is also a problem:  homeless shelters family double up.
• A reminder that these problems are not limited to Canada and the US:  ireland housing crisis

Finally: VOX had a good piece on how you can help others suffering  homelessness. And the New York Times has a section called Headway which is Exploring the world’s challenges through the lens of progress and touches on homelessness and other social issues.

P.S. Remember, the problems of poverty are simple and solvable. Also, homelessness is a concurrent disorder.