In a report released yesterday by the Coalition for the Homeless, the number of
homeless families in NYC climbed to 9,287 in February — a new record.
The total number of homeless New Yorkers grew
by 11 percent in the last year; the number of homeless families and children grew by
around 18 percent each.
These sobering statistics come midway through Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s five-year plan to combat homelessness.
“When something has been implemented and as gone this wrong, what
we need is for Mayor Bloomberg to step up, admit that the mistake has
been made, and to take corrective action immediately,” Mary
Brosnahan Sullivan of the Coalition for the Homeless told New York 1.
The report also says that the number of single
adults entering the shelter system has dropped for the second year in a
row.
Eight in 10 New Yorkers say homelessness is a major problem both locally
and nationally, according to Public Agenda’s latest survey. More than
one third of those surveyed worry at least somewhat that they could become homeless
themselves. Affordable housing is New Yorkers’ top concern according to
the study, and 89 percent say that housing costs being “too high” is an
important cause of homelessness.
Check it out:
http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/advocacy/StateoftheHomeless2007.html