Care For the Homeless

In 2017, about two-thousand visitors to Care for the Homeless’ (CFH) clinics were known to suffer from asthma. Asthma is a lung disease that inflames and narrows the airways, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services . The disease causes recurring periods of wheezing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and coughing, which can be very frightening and painful. It may surprise you to learn that although it is a manageable disease, asthma is one of the leading causes of visits to an emergency room which is the most expensive form of treatment. But if left untreated, sadly, it can lead to death. This most tragic outcome can be avoided with proper treatment, care and knowledge.  This is why our Population Management and Staff Training (PMST) team regularly holds asthma education events at our health centers. The most recent event was held at Susan’s Place that included an education workshop and walk-in visits with the on-site provider. Twenty-two women visited...

Last week New York University’s Furman Center released its “Changes in New York City’s Housing Stock” report for 2017, showing the city’s housing stock isn’t equal to our housing demand, with the number of city housing units increasing by 19% since 1970, but not nearly as fast as population growth or demand. They reported, unsurprisingly, that rents have been increasing considerably faster than incomes.             Since 2000, the number of housing units have increased by 8.2%, but adult population grew by 11%, and the number of jobs in the city were up 16.5%. In those 17 years, median monthly rents increased $300, while income of renter households increased by $145. For newly built units between 2000 and 2010 the median unit rented for about $50 a month more than all other units, but by 2016, in constant dollars, that price differential increased to $400 a month. About 68% of New York City households rent their home, as compared to about one-third ...

In the non-profit sector, long-term partnerships are truly indispensable to our work. One example of this at Care for the Homeless is the support we have received from The Hyde and Watson Foundation since 2006. Recently, the Foundation awarded its second consecutive grant to our vision initiative that will enable many more patients who visit CFH health centers, to literally see their world more clearly. Our vision initiative was launched a year ago and thanks to our partnership with Lion’s Club International and their many years of experience screening children, we were able to check the vision of children in homeless family residences using the screening device they owned. The Foundation’s first grant to our initiative enabled us to purchase our own vision device and one that would allow screening of both children and adults. The Spot Vision Screener has been put to good use, screening more than 200 adults and children to-date. The Foundation’s second generous grant to our vision...

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a house farm bill that includes major changes to the SNAP program, also known as food stamps, that would decrease the amount of assistance nutritionally challenged people receive, make it more difficult to maintain eligibility for the program and place restrictive requirements on those receiving the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.             Last Thursday the Senate passed a different farm bill with far fewer restrictions on SNAP, which means the farm bill, including the SNAP program will likely go to a joint House-Senate Conference Committee, which will attempt to arrive at a compromise bill that would then have to pass both the House and the Senate. Now is the time for interested supporters of the SNAP program to call their members of Congress, because provisions of the farm bill will begin to expire in September. This legislation includes subsidies ...

CFH Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Regina Olasin (left) awards Jordan Longet (right) On this year’s summer solstice, June 21, Care for the Homeless (CFH) and Broadway Community partnered to celebrate achievements of people overcoming the incredible obstacles of homelessness to find, obtain and maintain stable housing, and their achievements in overcoming major healthcare concerns in the midst of this most difficult circumstance. This was CFH’s fifth annual Success Celebration, an event invented by Care for the Homeless and observed this year in dozens of cities across North America. Over 225 people participated in the Success Celebration, which included live music and entertainment, a full meal open to everyone, an interactive “Wall of Success” activity, a program featuring story telling by people who had successfully overcome major obstacles while homeless in New York City and the presentation of “Achievement Awards” to 22 participants. The event also included the announcement of...

These reports generally confirm what we already know: there is an incredible and growing shortage of housing supply. This shortfall is dramatically affecting housing for moderate and low-income households, but far more devastating to extremely low-income households most vulnerable to unstable housing and homelessness. Unfortunately, much of the federal response would only make the problem worse. Last month the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance held hearings in Washington on Homelessness in America. While advocates for people experiencing homelessness or unstably housed testified or submitted comments (as CFH did), legislation was introduced to make eligibility for federal housing subsidies narrower, regulation more stringent and mandating work requirements for more people. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has even recommended reducing the number of rent burdened households. By simply changing the definitio...

Nearly every day we read about the economy getting better, unemployment going down and the stock market doing well. But household income is lower today for the poorest 10% of American households than it was in 2007, over 43 million Americans (many of them children) continue in poverty and those households struggle to afford stable housing. There isn’t a single state in the union where there is an adequate supply of housing units for extremely low-income households or those living in deep poverty, and especially in urban areas homelessness is growing. A recent National Low Income Housing Coalition (CFH partnered with the NLIHC on many advocacy efforts) report documented, nationwide the supply of affordable housing for extremely low-income households was 35 units for every 100 households. Which is why 71% of those households (8.1 million households) are severely cost burdened under HUD’s definition, meaning they spend more than an incredible 50% of their gross household income on hous...