Donations DOUBLED through June 30.

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Dear Reader,

People want to be heard, to know that someone is interested in their story.

This has felt especially true to me as I’ve reported on homelessness in our region. At the end of last year, we began reporting on news that authorities were clearing out a homeless encampment on the North Side. ([link removed]) At the time, I thought it would at most be one or two stories focused on a localized event.

Six months later, we’re still covering the topic in a critical way that no other publication in the area has. We spent the cold winter months talking to people who were camped along the Mon Wharf, retreating from the cold to coffee shops to understand what led to people being in this precarious state. Years of mistrust made it hard for us to get people to talk at first, but with persistence and continued interest in the topic, people slowly began to open up. We would get calls at all hours from people just wanting to share their stories.

Support this reporting with a matched gift. ([link removed])
Telling the stories of our region’s homelessness crisis isn’t just an issue of empathy; it’s an issue of public policy and transparency. The city and county governments operate on taxpayer dollars. And by focusing on the governments’ responses to the rise of homelessness in the county, we have illustrated how our region’s elected officials and government agents are responding to this issue.
A single tent on the overpass above I-376 on Smithfield Street. (Photo by Benjamin Brady/PublicSource)
Through this focused lens, we’ve been able to clarify the facts of the situation and free information that has been withheld from the public (e.g. the aftermath of the rushed opening of Second Avenue Commons ([link removed]) , and the city’s new draft policy on homeless encampments ([link removed]) ).

But the story isn’t complete, and there is still more we don’t know.

At a time when millions of federal dollars are being funneled into the city and county coffers, the questions need to be asked: How is the government using our money? Whose concerns are they listening to? And how will these decisions affect people experiencing homelessness?

We rely on support from readers like you to offset the cost of investigating, reporting, writing, editing and publishing stories that answer those questions. Now is an especially powerful time to support this work; through June 30, our generous match pool donors will DOUBLE your donation to PublicSource. ([link removed])

Please support our work as we continue to tell stories for a better Pittsburgh.

Make your MATCHED gift today. ([link removed])
Sincerely,
Eric Jankiewicz
Economic development reporter
PublicSource


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