Single Moms Most Affected by Homeless Crisis
Homeless is on the rise according to data from the Mayor’s Management Report, reports DNAinfo. This increase is reflected in two articles Voices of NY features this week. Women’s eNews focuses on a mother’s struggles to get her and her daughter out of a shelter amidst cuts to subsidized housing programs and Nowy Dziennik follows the controversy surrounding plan to open two more homeless shelters in Greenpoint.
Mothers and Children at Heart of Affordable Housing Crisis
Women’s eNews reports on Ayanna and her fight to move her and her 11-year-old daughter out of a shelter. While covering Ayanna’s story, the publication also establishes the link between single mothers and homelessness. Women with children have essentially become the poster child when it comes to poor families seeking affordable housing. Advocacy group Legal Momentum found that 75 percent of families without a home include a single mother with kids. With housing subsidy programs in the city such as Section 8 or Advantage not taking new applicants or closing altogether, the struggle to find affordable apartments becomes all the more grueling.
Once again, the sentiment emerges that the government just doesn’t care or want to help, this time from Nan Roman, the president of the non-profit organization, National Alliance to End Homeless, based in Washington.
Roman advocates for programs such as Section 8 assistance, which she said have demonstrated the role that affordable housing plays in stabilizing struggling families, many of which are headed by women. “We know they work.”
Both Roman and [Councilwoman Letitia] James want more programs that help people going through a housing crisis. But Roman fears there is no political or public will to help. “It’s been the case for a long time.”
More Homeless Shelters Crop Up in Greenpoint
The meeting focused on the creation of shelters in Greenpoint. (Photo by Eryka Volker via Nowy Dziennik)
Polish-American publication Nowy Dziennik has been following the row over homeless shelters cropping up in Greenpoint, a heavily Polish neighborhood in Brooklyn (though demographics are changing). Following the recent opening of a homeless shelter after two years of resistance from residents and local businesses, two new additional shelters are scheduled to open on Nov. 1 ahead of the winter season. Groups serving the homeless met to discuss coordination for the new shelters, which foresee a majority of Polish users. Read the full translation here of an article from Nowy Dziennik, originally in Polish.
