Ending Homelessness: What is to Be Done

Vin Lyon-Callo explores the interconnected social and economic conditions that contribute to homelessness, emphasizing the need to address broader systemic issues such as housing affordability, economic disparities, and racial inequalities. It also highlights the importance of community connections and the impact of neoliberal capitalist-driven inequalities on homelessness and despair as well as t...

Claire Herbert from the University of Oregon joins the discussion. The conversation explores the range of informal housing and why that has been increasing in the US, the growing criminalization of homelessness and how we might understand the complexities of why that is happening increasingly across the nation, visible vs. less visible homelessness and how responses might differ, and the negative...

Can we imagine and enact where housing is a basic human right? What would it take to enact such a society? So many people today are dismayed and disenchanted with the growing inequalities, increasing housing insecurity, homelessness, and economic insecurity. Can we begin to imagine a different society? Rob Robinson joins the podcast again to discuss these issues with Vin Lyon-Callo. The need for a...

Sam Lutzker from UCLA joins the podcast to discuss his research and advocacy around people living in their vehicles in Los Angeles as well as recent efforts to remove them from the Venice Beach area. The conversation explores the complex definition of 'housed' and 'homeless' in the context of people living in vehicles. It delves into the challenges of determining housing status, the government's r...

This episode is part one of a two part series focusing on housing and homelessness n Grand Rapids, MI. The conversation with Chris Palusky, CEO of Mel Trotter Ministries, highlights the organization's innovative programs and community partnerships. The tiny home village they are currently constructing (with people in the workforce development programs working on the homes) to produce very nice sma...

David Peery from the Florida Coalition to Advance Racial Equity again joins the discussions along with Rob Robinson and Vin Lyon-Callo. The focus is a consideration of why so many commmunities in 2025 and 2026 have chosen to implement costly measures to punish and criminalize public homelessness. Much of the focus of the conversation centers on Miami, Florida which just in July of 2026 passed crim...

Nick Khomsopa from Hudson Housing Lifestyle in the Hudson River Valley in New York joins the podcast to discuss the possibilities and challenges of constructing housing that is actually affordable for working people in the communities. What is needed to produce housing for teachers, municipal workers, firefighters, and young adults so that they can live, play, and work in security? Building upon h...

Vanessa Fry from Boise State University joins the podcast this week to discuss the economic growth and population increase in Boise, Idaho, leading to housing affordability challenges and opportunities. Vin and Vanessa explore the impact of rising housing costs without similar increases in wages but also the possibilities fr stable housing's role in fostering democratic participation. Additionally...

The conversation explores the impact of rising housing costs, the challenges of work, wages, and income, the decline of manufacturing jobs, the role of union jobs in achieving self-sufficiency, and the narrative of laziness among homeless individuals. It also explores the struggles of working individuals, the illusion of homeownership and wealth, the working homeless, and the lack of quality data...

How is it that despite years of well-meaning and thoughtful efforts by volunteers working on homelessness, housing insecurity and homelessness seems to not be improving much in many communities. Matthew Schneider joins the podcast to discuss this and much more in a conversation centered around his 2026 book "Serving the Street: Volunteering as Charity, Racial Justice, and Poverty Tourism". Set in...

The conversation explores the vital role of pets for unhoused individuals and the challenges they face in accessing shelter due to pet ownership. Nicholas Weinmeisterter from the University of Southern California Homelessness Policy Research Institute and Christine Kim from the My Dog is My Home federal nonprofit join the podast for a discussion on the impact of pets on the lives of homeless indiv...

Our discussion analyzes New York City's "right to shelter" and argues for a need to move to a "right to housing" instead. Impacts from the right to shelter such as a massive sheltering industry with large numbers of people living in shelters and doubled up in the city with years long waits to move into housing are explored. Housing vouchers, affordability crises, the impact of wages and housing co...

The conversation with David Peery from the Florida Coalition to Advance Racial Equity explores systemic inequities and homelessness. The fight for racial equality, the impact of the Pottinger v. City of Miami case, the intersection of racism, poverty, and homelessness, historical context of racial inequities, the impact of structural racism on homelessness, the role of racism in driving homelessne...

Nicholas Pleace from York University in the UK, the European Observatory on Homelessness and the European Federation of National Organizations Working with the Homeless (FEANTSA) joints the podcast. The challenges, possibilities, and complexities of addressing homelessness, exploring the impact of political will, capitalism, and social housing and the importance of international collaborations and...

This in the first in a planned series of discussions between Vin Lyon-Callo and Rob Robinson. The conversation explores the different experiences of a former shelter staff member and formerly homeless person to both come to understand the systemic nature of homelessness. Challenging dominant narratives and common sense is represented as essential to begin building the efforts needed to change the...

Dr. Deyanira Nevarez-Martinez from MIchigan State University discusses her journey into urban planning and housing research, addressing issues of housing precarity, informality, Latinx housing insecurities, racial segregation, and the criminalization of poverty. The discussion also explores the challenges of community engagement and collaboration in ethnographic research. The complexities of homel...

The widespread homelessness that we see in Canada and the US today was created by social policies and human practices influenced by neoliberal logics since the 1990s in both nations promoting individualization, marketization, and privatization. Our discussion emphasizes that acknowledging that gives the hope that a different world without homelessness can also be produced. Dr. Erin Dej joins the p...

The state of Indiana passed a law criminalizing unhoused people "camping" in public in 2026. This legislative effort was the impetus for our discussion. The conversation explores the challenges of homelessness in Indianapolis, focusing on the city's growth, income inequality, the ease of evictions in the state, and the impact of private equity firms buying much rental housing. It also explores the...

The conversation builds upon Dr. Gong's ethnographic research on mental health care across economic classes and homelessness in Los Angeles. The discussion explores the intersection of mental health and homelessness, critiquing homelessness policies, critically analyzing housing first and alternative models, comparing mental health care across classes, and understanding mental illness and treatmen...

The conversation focuses on Dr. Przybylinski's book to explore themes of injustice of housing as private property and the limits of liberalism in the context of homelessness and housing insecurity. Dr. Przybylinski's work on homeless encampments in Portland, Oregon is highlighted as well as ongoing issues around homelessness in mid-Michigan, setting the stage for a deeper exploration of the book's...

Josh Spring from the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition joins the discussion. We explore the challenges of homelessness, housing insecurity, economic inequalities, and racial disparities in Cincinnati, Ohio. Homeless students, systemic violence, and political leadership beholden to the corporate elites in the community are discussed. The conversation also highlights the need for affordable hous...

The conversation covers the topics of state-subsidized affordable housing as a cornerstone in Finland's approach to homelessness, the Housing First model and its systemic change, housing solutions and support, community and social cohesion, challenges and misconceptions, and the work on homelessness and Housing First. The discussion provides insights into the unique approach taken by Finland and t...

The discussion explored challenges faced by the tourist based economy of the Myrtle Beach community, focusing on homelessness, employment, housing affordability, and structural inequality. Low wages, costly housing, troubling shelter practIces, and the criminalization and policing of poor people illuminates the need for structural change to address these issues. Over a decade of community-based re...

The conversation explores Indigenous homelessness, the complexity of home, housing insecurity in the Arctic North and the possibilities of recreating community and connection. Dr. Julia Christensen draws upon her years of research in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Greenland, and Alaska to describe the impacts of colonialism on land dispossession and loss of sovereignty, cultural imposition an...

The conversation delves into the rise of homeless encampments in the US, the work of Dr. Jesse Speer, the broader contexts of homelessness, and the challenges faced by homeless individuals. It highlights the need for a more comprehensive and compassionate approach to address these pressing issues. The conversation delves into the impact of urban revitalization efforts and gentrification on homeles...