A family of six in New Market, St Elizabeth, who had lived in a church manse after losing their rented home, has spent eight months in an unfinished church hall since Hurricane Melissa, the Jamaica Star reported.

A Bahamas bishop says his ministry has sought Crown land for 35 years, while its planned 100-bed, $3.5 million Hope City homeless shelter stalled after a disputed half-acre grant on Carmichael Road.

For the tenant with a notice to quit, the family deciding whether to migrate, the young adult with nowhere settled: Psalm 84 on direction, shelter and a heart set on pilgrimage.

For someone living with abuse, the hardest question is often practical: where would I go? How churches, friends and families can help with safety, shelter and a new home.

After a newborn died in a homeless tent in Wagga Wagga, faith housing advocates said rezoning church land for housing can cost $150,000 and take a year, while a Nowra church opened a 12-bed shelter in weeks.

An Ohio church whose pastor faced 18 charges for sheltering homeless people in its building has won dismissal of the city’s lawsuit, in a fight over fire codes, zoning and religious freedom.

A Massachusetts judge has ruled that a church’s 26-bed basement homeless shelter is protected by the state’s Dover Amendment on religious land use, defeating a lawsuit brought by two neighbours.

The former Trinity United Methodist Church in Roanoke, Virginia, has been converted into Trinity Commons, 15 one-bedroom apartments for people aged 55 and over, including people who have experienced homelessness.

Bonny Downs Baptist Church in East Ham has started building a new church and day centre topped by eight studios for people with experience of homelessness and two flats for workers, with members raising £120,000 by buying bricks.

Releven’s Winnipeg Declaration urges Canadian faith leaders to turn underused church land into affordable housing, as a third of the country’s 27,000 religious buildings face closure, with projects such as a 110-unit tower at a Winnipeg Anglican church.