Today’s Read: 20,000 Homeless Kids? Posted on September 10, 2012 by GISELLE ROUTHIER Last night, 19,000 children slept in New York City shelters—a remarkable 18 percent increase over last year. The New York Daily News reported yesterday on the record number of homeless kids. Francheska Luciano, a 14-year-old girl living in a shelter with ..Read More
Today’s Read: NYC Better Off Than 4 Years Ago? Posted on September 6, 2012 by GISELLE ROUTHIER Are New Yorkers better off today than they were four years ago? As Mayor Bloomberg weighed in on this question, the Wall Street Journal took a look at some of the City’s social and economic indicators. Today, New York City has much higher levels of homele ..Read More
Today’s Read: Homeless Children Across America Posted on September 5, 2012 by GISELLE ROUTHIER his weekend’s New York Times published some stunning photos of homeless children and young adults. Currently, there are 1.6 million homeless children living in the United States and their plights are often hidden from the general public. But here is ..Read More
Today’s Read: Poverty Should be Big News Posted on August 30, 2012 by GISELLE ROUTHIER In today’s over-saturated news cycles, let’s take a minute to remember that poverty should be big news. Over 46 million people currently live in poverty in the United States – the highest number recorded in all the time the Census bureau has been ke ..Read More
Today’s Read: The Stresses of Poverty Posted on August 29, 2012 by GISELLE ROUTHIER New research indicates that the stresses of poverty can have long-term negative impacts on children. Several years of studies funded by the National Institutes of Health found that high levels of stress hormones can inhibit the proper development of children ..Read More
A Life-Changing Experience Posted on August 28, 2012 by SARAH MURPHY By Justin Friedman, Counselor, Camp Homeward Bound When I was thirteen years old, I hit a turning point in my life: I discovered music and playing the guitar. This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t met a man named Joe Carbone who mentored me throu ..Read More
Fact-Checking: Blaming “Out-of-Towners” Posted on August 27, 2012 by GISELLE ROUTHIER In an attempt to divert attention away from the current lack of housing options, some folks are continuing to blame out-of-towners for current record homelessness and the strains on the shelter system. We have addressed this myth before, but let’s re-l ..Read More
Fact-Checking Longer Shelter Stays Posted on August 24, 2012 by GISELLE ROUTHIER Mayor Bloomberg shocked a lot of folks on Thursday when he blamed rising shelter stays on “pleasurable” shelter conditions. See the media response here, here, and here. So what’s really behind rising shelter stays? The numbers tell a different story. ..Read More
Today’s Read: Shelter System Under Strain Posted on August 23, 2012 by GISELLE ROUTHIER Record homelessness and increasing strains on the shelter system are not flying under the radar as perhaps Mayor Bloomberg would hope. Instead the problem is getting front and center attention from the media, advocates, shelter residents, and neighbors. Today ..Read More