Homeless New Yorkers Lead a Push for Better Rental Vouchers Posted on June 8, 2021 by Jared Brey in Next City Milton Perez has spent years in New York’s shelter system, often sleeping in dormitory-style rooms with up to 20 other people and just three or four feet of space on either side of his bed. Last May, as part of the city’s emergency response to the Covid-19 ..Read More
Urge the City Council to Pass Intro. 2047 Posted on May 28, 2021 Permanent, stable housing is an essential foundation to help people reentering society after incarceration, but many landlords refuse to rent homes to anyone who has been convicted, regardless of the severity of the offense. This discrimination disproportionat ..Read More
Your Rights as a Voter Posted on May 25, 2021 by Jacquelyn Simone Can I vote without a permanent address? YES! In 1984, Coalition for the Homeless filed the lawsuit Pitts v. Black, which guaranteed the right to vote for homeless New Yorkers living in shelters, on the streets, or in welfare hotels. What do I need when I go to ..Read More
NYC Touts Drop in Street Homelessness, But Advocates Say Count Obscures Extent of Crisis Posted on May 21, 2021 by David Brand in City Limits Mayor Bill de Blasio touted a significant decrease in the number of people identified in its annual street homeless count—but advocates caution that a spike in enforcement, and a new census methodology, likely obscure the true extent of the crisis. The cityâ ..Read More
Number of single adults living in NYC homeless shelters reached all-time high during COVID, fueling death rates: study Posted on April 28, 2021 by Chris Sommerfeldt in NY Daily News The number of single adults living in homeless shelters across the five boroughs reached an all-time high during the pandemic, likely contributing to a disproportionate spike in coronavirus deaths among that population, according to a new study. ..Read More
Coalition Testifies on Homeless Students Posted on April 20, 2021 by Jacquelyn Simone On Friday, April 16th, the Coalition for the Homeless and The Legal Aid Society submitted testimony to the New York City Council’s Committees on Education and General Welfare regarding youth sleeping in shelters and their access to education and related serv ..Read More
Stop stigmatizing homeless New Yorkers Posted on April 19, 2021 by Giselle Routhier in NY Daily News If there is one thing we have learned over the past four decades, it is that New York City cannot police its way out of the homelessness crisis. Far too often, homeless New Yorkers are subject to unnecessary interactions with law enforcement — and sometimes ..Read More
Sleeping Behind The Bronx Zoo: Why Some New Yorkers Choose Streets Over Shelters Posted on April 5, 2021 by Greg B. Smith in The City Anthony Lewis, 62, hunkered down in a tattered blue canvas camping chair on the sidewalk across from the Chrysler Building as a frigid wind raced down 42nd Street. He’d just been given a pair of gloves by a kind passerby. But the parka he wore and the thin b ..Read More
Expanding forced commitments to hospital is wrong Rx for the homeless — and for most people Posted on March 8, 2021 by Shelly Nortz in NY Daily News Gov. Cuomo’s perennial preaching on homelessness is meant to reassure us all that he knows just what to do about a seemingly intractable problem. But, as with so many other issues, our state’s chief executive too often shirks his own responsibility for con ..Read More
