This comes from the office of City Councilwoman Tish James:

Join the COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS, WPIX / CHANNEL 11, & COUNCIL MEMBER LETITIA JAMES for PROJECT: BACK TO SCHOOL, and help New York’s 16,000 homeless kids get the school supplies they need to succeed. As you shop for backpacks, lunch boxes and other school necessities this fall, pick up a little extra to help get our most vulnerable neighbors started on the right foot this school year. The District Office of Council Member James is a drop-off location for backpacks and school supplies; it is located at 67 Hanson Place in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

ABOUT PROJECT: BACK TO SCHOOL

The COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS has teamed up with WPIX / CHANNEL 11, Council Member Letitia James and other supporters for PROJECT: BACK TO SCHOOL, an urgent initiative to help New York’s homeless kids obtain crucial school supplies. This fall, New Yorkers will donate new backpacks and lunch boxes, along with other school supplies to help get our most vulnerable neighbors prepared for the school year. With your help, we can ensure that New York’s neediest boys and girls have the tools necessary to succeed in school, and in life.  read more »

The Drum Major Institute's Marketplace of Ideas event this morning featured Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and his reforms to turn vacant buildings into affordable housing. Menino, who is now serving his fourth mayoral term, has reformed Boston's housing market in some pretty amazing ways. During the past decade, abandoned residential properties declined 77% as abandoned buildings were turned into viable housing.

The panel discussion featured Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Pratt Community Development Center Director Brad Lander, and Executive Director of the Parodneck Foundation Carlton Collier. DMI Executive Director Andrea Batista Schlesinger moderated the panel.  read more »

Cross posted from the DMI blog.

In 1999, Boston had a housing crisis. The waiting list for public housing units had 15,000 people on it, and rent prices had gone up 47% in the past four years. More than 50,000 Bostonians were spending more than half of their income on housing, and the number of homeless people in Boston was at a record high.

But just four years later, the statistics told a different story. Almost 8,000 new housing units had been created, and 1,000 housing units were made accessible to the homeless. The new units represented about $2 billion in public and private housing investment. The number of abandoned buildings in Boston dropped by 66% -- from 1,044 in 1997 to only 350 in 2005, and by the end of 2003, 1,079 vacant public housing units had been renovated. Suddenly, housing in Boston was on its way to becoming available and affordable.  read more »

At St. Paul's Chapel (just south of City Hall Park on Broadway at Fulton), Thursday evening, considering joining the Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing for a convocation and overnight vigil at City Hall for housing justice. The convocation, which runs from 6:30PM to 8:30PM, will honor and recognize the work such groups as Coalition for the Homeless, The Pratt Center for Community & Economic Development, The Supportive Housing Network and Picture The Homeless.

Following the convocation will be an overnight Vigil for Housing Justice in City Hall Park starting at 9PM and concluding at 7AM -- perhaps so they'll be gone as Deputy Mayors and their aides stagger into work. You can register for the vigil online here or just show up. (As Woody Allen reminds us, 90% of life is just showing up).

The convocation and vigil presents a quandary, however for fans of Grey's Anatomy, like me -- a two-hour special of innuendo and sexual bantering -- is a do-not-miss event. Can I or you learn to program a VCR in time?  read more »