Just How Bad Is NYC Homelessness Crisis?
Jeff Foreman, Director of Policy
“57,000 is 57,000 too many.”
That’s what the sign said that a Care for the Homeless client leader held up last year at a rally (featured here) on the steps of New York’s City Hall, after the media
brought us the bad news that we’d set yet another record for the number of
people experiencing homelessness in New York City shelters.
Last year over 111,000 people spent time in our city’s homeless shelters. More than 40,000 of them were children. Those figures, too, represent new high census figures for shelter populations.
In one recent Care for the Homeless speakers' bureau presentation, one client began with the photos of her colleague with the sign: "57,000 is 57,000 too many." She said, "When I was cold and hungry on the street, I used to say that even one is too many if they want a home like I did."
And, of course, that's the truth.
“57,000 is 57,000 too many.”
That’s what the sign said that a Care for the Homeless client leader held up last year at a rally (featured here) on the steps of New York’s City Hall, after the media
brought us the bad news that we’d set yet another record for the number of
people experiencing homelessness in New York City shelters.Last year over 111,000 people spent time in our city’s homeless shelters. More than 40,000 of them were children. Those figures, too, represent new high census figures for shelter populations.
Another way to think about it is that in HUD’s recently released Point-in-Time
survey for a given day in January of 2013, there were 64,060 people in New York
City’s homeless shelters or living on the streets. That’s a 13% increase in
City homelessness, year-over-year, at the same time the country as a whole
decreased homelessness by 4%. That study found about 1-in-10 homeless people
in America was in New York City!
We do know the City’s Department of Homeless Services census doesn't include
all people experiencing homelessness. It doesn't account for
families in short-term emergency domestic violence shelters, or sleeping
in runaway/homeless youth centers, or emergency HASA (HIV-AIDS Services
Administration) shelters, or sleeping in faith based nonpublic shelters or some
veteran emergency beds.
York City shelters.In one recent Care for the Homeless speakers' bureau presentation, one client began with the photos of her colleague with the sign: "57,000 is 57,000 too many." She said, "When I was cold and hungry on the street, I used to say that even one is too many if they want a home like I did."
And, of course, that's the truth.
