Care For the Homeless

Care for the Homeless client leader Gayle Dorsky, and CFH Policy Director Jeff Foreman, appeared before an emergency hearing of the Council General Welfare Committee on Friday to testify about the plight of Hurricane Sandy evacuees still without stable housing, and the needs of tens of thousands of homeless New Yorkers. They spoke up for the Sandy victims still homeless, displaced through no fault of their own. But they also spoke for other people experiencing homelessness. Client leader Gayle Dorsky The emergency hearing drew an overflow crowd, many of whom had to watch portions of the hearing by closed-circuit in an adjoin room, as well as ten members of Council, two who weren't even members of that committee. Presided over by Chairwoman Annabel Palma, the four hour meeting included testimony by city Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Seth Diamond, as well advocates like Care for the Homeless and Hurricane Sandy victims, about 196 of whom are facing a May...

Health Educator Kathy Figueroa  During National Nutrition Month in March, the Care for the Homeless Health Education team encouraged clients to make healthier food choices through a series of tabling events. Healthy snacks, smoothies and fresh juice samples were offered as a means to introduce clients to the various healthy options available. Educational brochures were distributed and individual counseling sessions were offered to the nearly 200 clients who participated. In addition to be healthy on the inside, Health Educators emphasized being healthy on the outside as well. Personal Hygiene Workshops were designed to emphasize the importance of personal hygiene among teens so they will be able to identify personal hygiene and sanitation practices and the need to improve or maintain them. The team focused on increasing the understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of personal hygiene and sanitation practices and assisted teens in recognizing that the habits of ...

New York City has announced that April 30 th (next Tuesday) is the termination date for hotel accommodations that the city has been supplying to hurricane Sandy evacuees who are still without a place to live. Some of the displaced Sandy victims have been without permanent housing since October 25, 2012, when the hurricane first hit New York. The thousands displaced by the storm have dwindled to a few hundred, and the city hopes to place them by next week’s deadline. On Friday, City Council’s General Welfare Committee will hold an emergency oversight hearing on the end of the city hotel program and permanent housing for remaining Sandy evacuees. The hearing will be held at 1 p.m. in the 16 th floor hearing room at City Council’s offices at 250 Broadway in downtown Manhattan near City Hall. We certainly hope they all get placed by Tuesday, but like City Council we’re not confident those that weren't placed in the first 150 days can be in the last seven. We hope the City,...

Be sure to head over to Treasure & Bond in SoHo to vote for Care for the Homeless! We are a semi-finalist this year to be the nonprofit beneficiary of Treasure & Bond, Nordstrom’s Corporate Giving Program. We need you to Get Out & Vote and help Care for the Homeless win! Visit Treasure & Bond any day in the month of April to vote for CFH. ·         No purchase necessary. ·          You can vote as many times as you want during the month of April. ·          If selected, Care for the Homeless will receive between $15,000 and $30,000 to support our pediatric homeless health care program. Store hours and directions: Treasure & Bond 350 West Broadway (between Broome and Grand) – click here for a map Store Hours:       Monday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m Sunday, 11 p.m. – 7 p.m. Voting runs April 1 thr...

Over this last weekend, “CNN Money” ran a feature report it calls “Paying to House NYC’s Homeless,” but it’s really an endorsement of part of the Care for the Homeless Agenda to End Homelessness . Not that they talk about us or our plan - but what they say supports our advocacy for a transitional rental subsidy program to move homeless families and individuals from streets and shelters to permanent housing, because we can’t end homelessness in New York City without it. CNN reports “New York City used to have a rental assistance program that cost $10,000 a year per family. But that program was cut, and taxpayers now pay more than twice that to house a family in shelter.” In fact, city taxpayers now pay more than three times the cost of the former Advantage rental subsidy to house families in temporary shelters rather than helping people rent permanent housing. And CNN reports the homeless population in the city shelter system has increased 60% in the last decade. The CNN report in...