As Secretary of Housing, I do have to express alarm, signal the alarm if you will, that the potential for homelessness to grow is there.
Young people are at a higher risk of homelessness than adults and, when they find themselves in crisis, are too often overlooked by hard-pressed council homelessness departments.
There is no single cause of homelessness, and vulnerable people, those with mental health problems and addictions for example, need support not punishment.
I was homeless for a little bit. I was on people's couches, but it was an amazing journey. I got to make people laugh all the way.
The goal, being bold about it, is to stop homelessness in Manchester. I've been in this community for 11 years now - my wife Carla is from Manchester, the kids are Mancs, born and bred - so homelessness is not an issue we can shy away from.
If people are expecting the mayor of Portland to solve the problem of homelessness they're going to be sorely disappointed and that's just the truth.
It's almost impossible to get the outside world to take any notice of homelessness at all.
In San Francisco, we have long faced serious challenges in managing the crisis of homelessness on our streets.
When you're spending eight to 10 hours out there, the homeless guy is no longer homeless; it's Dave. They become people to you. I think we're really good in this country about saying that they're homeless and, therefore, they don't exist.
People like me - who set up a homelessness foundation, worked with all the homeless charities, authored probably six of seven homelessness papers - don't make changes without thinking through the impact of them on the homeless.
