The Georgetown Patch recently published an article about the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ annual report on the homeless population. Read the Patch article here.

The article quotes our latest newsletter, which, if you haven’t read it already, you can find here or on our Media page.

Typically, homeless shelters are “dry” shelters: guests intoxicated by drugs and alcohol are not allowed entrance. Slowly, though, we are hearing word of more and more “wet” shelters where guests can enter and stay, even if they are under the influence. Some group homes are taking this concept a step further and allowing their residents to drinking inside the house under the supervision of addiction counselors.

What do you think of the concept of a “wet house?” Should more group homes and transitional houses rethink the way they operate?

(If you cannot view the video above, try clicking here to view it on the Washington Post’s website.)

The “Homeless Hotspot” program at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, TX has been making headlines everywhere. In case you haven’t read about it yet, a marketing agency gave thirteen homeless individuals mobile Wi-Fi devices and t-shirts that read, “I am a 4G Hotspot.” You can read the Washington Post’s article about it here.

There are plenty of reactions: some positive, some negative. While some consider the program a kind of employment, others are criticizing it for being “exploitative.”

Tell us what you think!

Yesterday shortly after 2pm, a Georgetown University facilities employee found a man’s body in a tent just off campus. Though the man, identified as Clark Cavelli, was a homeless individual in the area, he was not a guest of Georgetown Ministry Center. The word on the street is that he spent his days in Rosslyn.

You can read more about this on the Georgetown Patch or Georgetown Voice.

If you know of a homeless person who spends his/her night in Georgetown, please let us know. We will do our best to reach out to him/her on Wednesday night when we conduct the annual Point in Time Survey. Email us at info@gmcgt.org or call us at 202-338-8301.

From the Washington Post, 12/2/2011 http://wapo.st/vB23gk