Why Cities Are Making It Harder to Help Homeless People

Cities across the country are making it harder to help homeless people, and what’s happening in Kensington, Philadelphia, shows exactly why this matters. In this episode, we talk with Sarah Laurel, Founder and Executive Director of Savage Sisters Recovery, about addiction, recovery, and why harm reduction services are under attack. Since our last visit to Kensington, the city has shut down services, increased police presence, and forced life-saving outreach into the night. These policies don’t reduce homelessness or addiction. They make everything worse. We also just released a new documentary where we followed Sarah and her team on night outreach in Kensington, documenting how police enforcement and new restrictions are changing what it means to provide help on the streets. The film is linked in the description and show notes. Before you watch or listen, please take a minute to fill out our short listener survey at https://invisiblepeople.tv/podsurvey. It helps us improve the podcast and reach more people with stories that matter. Kensington: Making It Impossible to Help Homeless People https://youtu.be/2xwFXkoXaB8?si=DQ6HItIsl1rTzc7k The Shocking Truth About America’s Illegal Drug Trade https://youtu.be/vlb5XhTDXAY?si=WQ32jz1lxwY32kvl More: From Encampments to Homes: How Dallas Is Solving Homelessness https://youtu.be/iG4afD_ycLk?si=TBS-G16xTpV3KiiR Fined. Arrested. Still Nowhere to Live. https://youtu.be/yZg14Ln3hGw?si=UceojQ67wTIzO1GN Can We End Homelessness? Hennepin County Shows How https://youtu.be/yq1C8l4uSZc?si=K68RtzdYzduZ9QEe Internment Camps for Homeless People — Disguised as ‘Help’ https://youtu.be/Z9eVJdHZeCw?si=eMPxi1fx6B0jsTiZ Executive producer: Mark Horvath Producer/editor/cinematographer: Alex Gasaway https://www.youtube.com/alexgasaway Associate producer: Erin McGinnis Created by: Alex Gasaway and Erin McGinnis YouTube Podcast https://shorturl.at/XciIu Apple Podcast https://apple.co/4cckQ86 Spotify https://spoti.fi/3XyM98c