Service providers see change afoot in reaction to complaints about increasingly visible situation
A man sleeps in Sanborn Square on a recent Saturday afternoon; some say this keeps other park visitors away. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Rich Pollac
Caring Kitchen serves meals to all who show up, no questions asked
By Ron Hayes
You don’t have to be homeless. You just have to be hungry.
You don’t need to prove you’re needy. You don’t need to present an ID.
You don’t even have to give your real na
By Mary Hladky
When Boca Raton officials in 2009 purchased the land that now is Wildflower Park, they envisioned it as the perfect spot for a waterfront restaurant.
A citizens’ group, however, had a very different idea. Members wanted a public park,
Andy Hagen is the new executive director of Boca Helping Hands after volunteering there for years. Photo provided
By Janis Fontaine
Andy Hagen, the senior pastor at Advent Life Ministries in Boca Raton, donned a new hat on June 1: “I’m moving from
Mia Bonutti, a senior at Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, stands inside the 30-foot camper she renovated for her independent study project, which allowed her to tackle a real-life topic of interest. She hopes to donate the RV to an organization t
By Rich Pollack
Over the past seven years, Virginia and Harvey Kimmel have supported many of Delray Beach’s arts and education initiatives, from library programs to Milagro Center activities.
Now they are adding a new area of investment to their phi
The evening event put on by Changing Lives, an organization focused on meeting the immediate needs of homeless people in Palm Beach County, gave guests a better understanding of a day in the life of a growing population and what the nonprofit has don
James McCray, part of the homeless task force in Delray Beach, cuts the hair of Thomas Germaine near the shower truck that is parked behind St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Rich Pollack
They are people many choose to lo
Boca Raton police investigate the beginnings of a hole that the suspect intended to use as a grave for his father’s body, according to the police report. Photo provided
By Mary Hladky
A 26-year-old man is being held without bond in the Palm Beach Cou
Larry Okun, Eric Adams and Ron Simon (l-r), volunteers from Temple Sinai, and Chris Bentley, whose company bought the four-stall shower truck, take a selfie in front of it at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By J
ABOVE: Volunteer Nicole Baldwin, managing partner of Carmen Care Advanced Laser Therapy, speaks with volunteer Farris Brown as she provides laser treatments.
BELOW: Candace Rojas, founder and chairman of Starz Foundation, provides information to an 1
Marcela Carneiro Millett, of Palm Beach County Human Services, speaks with a homeless man
at The Caring Kitchen in Delray Beach.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Jane Smith
One woman at The Caring Kitchen said she was to blame for her homelessn
The good people of Boca Raton are in position to build the first homeless kibbutz in the USA. The United States’ shelter system for homeless people is a failed system. It makes nothing better, it only makes the situation worse.
It is time to
By Tim Pallesen
A majority of city commissioners wants to charge a dollar for trolley rides to discourage the homeless from riding free to a soup kitchen.
To stop the homeless from begging for money, commissioners also want a tough new ordin
Standing shoulder-to-shoulder and toe-to-toe with arms crossed in supplication, members of the Isamic Center of Boca Raton participate in a midweek prayer service. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
By Tim Pallesen
Muslims have joined Christians and Jews t
