Posted by The number of people sleeping in city homeless shelters has hit an all-time high, topping more than 39,000, according to a report released Tuesday.
The Coalition for the Homeless, which put out the report, blamed the Bloomberg administration and its policy of not giving out Section 8 vouchers to those at homeless shelters, something that would help them to afford low-income housing.
“With unemployment continuing to rise and affordable housing as hard as ever to come by, this crisis will continue to get worse unless the Bloomberg administration changes direction, and does so quickly,” said Mary Brosnahan, head of the coalition.
As of Sept. 30, there were 39,243 homeless adults and children in shelters, an 11 percent increase over last year, according to the report, which is based on city records.
Since Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office, the coalition found, there has been a 45 percent increase in the homeless shelter population.
Robert Hess, head of the Department of Homeless Services, pointed to a city rental assistance program he said had placed 13,000 people.
“In the years before the Bloomberg Administration reformed the shelter system, the kind of demand . . . we’re seeing today would have overwhelmed the system,” Hess said.
Source: AMNY
I can not believe what this world has become. It is a world of homeless people and war. Not to mention the gas emissions being released everyday, depleting our ozone layer and melting our ice caps. We are destroying this Earth. Eternity’s from now, when (and if we have any) our anscestors will look back at us and be digusted at what we did. If you ask me, everybody should stop worrying about the other problems in the world for just one moment. They should go to the nearest city and look at the litter on the floor; the black smoke in the sky; the planes that fly overhead; and the buses that fly by. House the homeless. Feed the hungry. Give drink to the thirsty. Love the Earth underour feet.
~EarthLover~
i have a friend who is in a homeless shelter and is a woman who has worked all her life. her social worker said she does not qaulify for any help and has not helped he in the 15 months that she has been at brc in brooklyn. i have made calls to robert hess and so has she still nothing. how can a singkle woman live on 9.25 an hour and afford an apartment. this is a woman who has never asked for the governments help and now that she needs it they are giving her the run around. is thee anyone out there willing to help?