Homelessness

Approximately 38,000 New Yorkers are currently in shelters or on the streets—an increase of nearly 10 percent since 2002. Advocacy groups say the current situation is a crisis unseen since the Great Depression, but the Department of Homeless Services claims minor victories—fewer junkies sleeping on subway grates!—while seemingly ignoring the overwhelming evidence that existing policy is deeply flawed. That’s where you come in.

Dropping a few quarters into a dirty cup isn’t going to even pay for a coffee (much less a beer). Instead, spend a few minutes educating yourself on the causes and statistics of homelessness in the city. “Darwin said, ‘Fortune favors the prepared mind,’ ” says Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness & Housing (iahh.org) executive director Marc Greenberg. “If New Yorkers are aware of the four factors affecting homelessness—producing housing, preventing homelessness, promoting income and providing services—they can be opportunistic when it’s time to act.” Greenberg suggests signing up for e-mail updates from the Empire State Housing Alliance (go to ariseorg.net and subscribe to the listserv) and the Coalition for the Homeless (coalitionforthehomeless.org). The NYC DHS posts a daily tally of those in shelters at its home page (nyc.gov/html/dhs).

A few hundred phone calls to City Hall would shake Bloomberg’s “just trust us” mentality. “We want New Yorkers to weigh in with their elected officials,” says Patrick Markee, senior policy analyst for the Coalition for the Homeless. Check the Coalition’s website for issues that require immediate action, a list of names and contact info of the officials involved, as well as the positions endorsed by the group (not to mention your phone-call script). Members of the advocacy group Picture the Homeless (picturethehomeless.org) are or have been homeless; and currently, PTH is soliciting support for legislation called “Housing, Not Warehousing,” which aims to encourage developers to set aside more real estate for residential use.

How better to advance homeless New Yorkers’ rights than by helping them help themselves? Skills training and mentoring help the disenfranchised support themselves and break the cycle of poverty and homelessness. “Our formerly homeless representatives speak to religious and civic groups about their lives on the streets and in shelters,” says IAHH’s Greenberg. “Becoming a mentor to one of these people is a powerful way to get involved.” Alternatively, you can request that a representative from the IAHH or PTH speak to your band, bar crew or ironic kickball team about public policy and its real effects on those it’s meant to serve. Or simply find out about the problem firsthand by volunteering to serve meals or monitor shelter conditions with the Coalition.

—Matt Schneiderman

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