COLUMN: Mental illness isn’t as simple as “Why don’t they just…?”

Columnist and homeless advocate Lynelle Wilcox shares stories from homeless women about the challenges of finding and staying on psychiatric medication.
COLUMN: Grace and lingering questions as teenager sentenced for murdering homeless man

Columnist and homeless advocate Lynelle Wilcox reflects on sitting through a teenager's sentencing hearing after he admitted to beating a homeless Salem man to death.
COLUMN: “Success” can be housing, or remembering a favorite color

Lynelle Wilcox, SafeSleep United's director, shares success stories large and small from a year serving more unsheltered women and kids in Salem.
COLUMN: The warriors living on Salem’s streets

Columnist Lynelle WIlcox, who runs the SafeSleep United shelter in Salem, shares two recent stories from people she's met living unsheltered in Salem.
COLUMN: A reflection on gratitude after talking to a drug dealer

Columnist Lynelle WIlcox, who runs the SafeSleep United shelter in Salem, writes about a brief moment of perfection while trying to help a woman stay clean.
COLUMN: Lessons on silence and showers from a psych eval

Columnist Lynelle Wilcox recounts sitting in on a psych evaluation for a woman with schizophrenia, and how it changed her perspective.
COLUMN: The “endless benefits” of being homeless

Columnist Lynelle Wilcox responds to a comment she heard about the "endless benefits" people get while homeless. Wilcox manages the Safe Sleep United shelter.
COLUMN: The beauty of a banquet shared in a sketchy Salem motel room

Columnist Lynelle WIlcox describes the care two homeless friends took to create a small feast while sharing a motel room.