Care For the Homeless

 Are you passionate about helping others? Care for the Homeless is growing, and we're hiring. Join our team and be a part of the fight to end homelessness in New York City. For current openings, please visit our web site www.careforthehomeless.org .

Jeff Foreman, Director of Policy Commentators found lots to like in Governor Cuomo’s Budget address last week. There was more money for supportive housing (that’s a big issue for us at Care for the Homeless), a commitment to fund pre-K and aid education across New York State, even if the “how to fund it” issue is still open for debate, excellent programs to aid victims of domestic violence and more.   But one really critical issue in the fight to end the homelessness crisis in New York City just has to get fixed in the budget before it gets adopted over the next three months. That’s the opportunity to set re-establish a critically needed subsidy to move families from homeless shelters to permanent housing. Earlier this month the Citizens Committee for Children, our advocacy partner in fighting homelessness in New York City, released a report decrying that over 22,000 kids sleep daily in city family homeless shelters and arguing we can’t successfully end that without a large...

Wow - we start the new year with our biggest and humblest note of gratitude. The final numbers are in, and thanks to you, we have exceeded  our 2013 fundraising goals. You, along with hundreds of other donors, collectively donated over $465,000, changing the lives of 8,000 homeless men, women and children. Thank you. As many as 60,000 New Yorkers are homeless every night, including 22,000 children . As a Care for the Homeless supporter, you know the demand for our medical, mental health and social services is often greater than we can meet.  More than 70% of the 8,000 clients we served in 2013 were first-time clients at Care for the Homeless, and many were newly homeless.  We have a crisis in NYC. Because of you, we have hope. The impact you made in 2013-and the investment you made in our services for the future-is critical in the fight to end homelessness. We can't wait to report back with even more good news in the coming months. Thank you, once again...

Guest Post by Rosa Goldensohn Reporter, New York City News Service  On the longest night of the year, December 21, people with ties to the homeless gathered to commemorate those who died in 2013. As many as 60,000 New Yorkers are homeless. [Read more.] Photo by Rosa Goldensohn  View Rosa's beautiful photo essay on her web site .  Follow Rosa on Twitter @RosaGoldensohn. Care for the Homeless thanks Rosa Goldensohn for joining us at New Song Church on December 21 and for raising awareness about Homeless Persons' Memorial Day and the fight to end homelessness in New York City.

One night each January, in communities all across America, a count is conducted of people who are homeless, including those on the streets with no place to go for shelter and those housed in temporary shelters without stable housing of their own. This “point-in-time” (PIT) count for 2013 documented nearly a 4% decrease in homelessness in America. Unfortunately in New York City it estimated more than 64,000 homeless men, women and children – a 13% increase from the 2012 PIT count, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In New York City this annual PIT count is called the Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE) and it’s conducted by volunteers working with the city Department of Homeless Services (DHS). This year’s count will be conducted on the evening of Monday, January 27. The City is looking for 3,000 volunteers to sign up and lend a hand. How to Help Volunteers must be 18-years-of-age or older and are trained and supervised by DHS. If you wa...

What will the fight to #endhomelessness look like in 2014? The need for Care for the Homeless services is greater than ever. We thank all our generous supporters, advocates and volunteers for helping us advance our mission. Share the word - encourage others to learn more and follow us online. www.careforthehomeless.org

Jeff Foreman, Director of Policy Tomorrow, January 8 th , is the 50 th anniversary of America’s “unconditional war on poverty.”  Yesterday Care for the Homeless sent copies of petitions they collected to members of the New York Congressional delegation asking that they not “allow more funding cuts to programs providing health care and human services to poor and homeless people.” The War on Poverty began with poverty in America of 17.4% and a commitment to “not rest until that war is won.” It lasted in an aggressive way about as long as the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and in 2014 dollars cost a small fraction of those wars. And the War on Poverty was working when we stopped fighting it. In the 1960s and 1970s America’s poverty rate was falling. It went from 17.4% in ’65 to 12% in 1974.  The War on Poverty spawned programs assisting the poorest Americans in nutrition, health care, housing and job training. It created the Department of Housing and Urban D...

From all of us at Care for the Homeless, we wish you a Happy and Healthy New Year. Thank you for your generous support and advocacy. You make our work possible  for over 8,000 homeless men, women and children in NYC every year. www.careforthehomeless.org