WARNING: The numbers in Gary Mason's column are wrong, and that paints a
unduly rosy picture. Instead of the 4,000 people that he mentions
sleeping in shelters each night, the actual nightly total is 33,052
people in shelters - 13,118 children and 19,934 adults. While this is
down from 2003, the latest number remains higher than any night in 1980s
or 1990s.

Among the biggest increase has been the numbers of children and families
forced to stay in shelters - a tragic reality as the housing crisis
grows worse. This points to the underlying cause - which is a
combination of supply and affordability factors (and not, as some have
argued, increased mental health or substance use issues).

Mayor Bloomberg deserves credit for partially reversing the punitive
practices of former mayor Guiliani, but NYC still has a huge homeless
population. During the 1990s, NYC lost about half a million affordable
rental apartments. The U.S. Census Bureau reported last week that the
poor are getting poorer in NYC even as the rich get richer (a trend that
is, of course, not unique to NYC).

President Bush is considering big funding cuts to U.S. housing programs
aimed at low, moderate and middle-income households - so the outlook is
not good.

Bottom line: A crisis in supply (lack of units) and affordability
(growing poverty) have combined to create a massive homelessness
disaster in NYC. After reaching an historic high in 2003, the numbers of
homeless in city shelters dropped a bit in 2004 and 2005 and the numbers
appear to have leveled off this year (neither going up nor down). 

- Michael

 
 
* * *
 
Michael Shapcott
Senior Fellow in Residence: Public Policy
The Wellesley Institute
45 Charles Street East, #101,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4Y 1S2
Tel.: 416-972-1010, x231
Cell: 416-605-8316
Fax: 416-921-7228
www.wellesleyinstitute.com
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Social Determinants of Health [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Chrystal Ocean
Sent: Tuesday, September 05, 2006 2:31 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [SDOH] G & M: Big Apple's homelessness model bears fruit

Globe and Mail
Big Apple's homelessness model bears fruit
By GARY MASON 

Tuesday, September 5, 2006 - Page S1

VANCOUVER -- Canadians like to think of themselves as far more socially
progressive than their neighbours to the south. And yet when it comes to
homelessness, it is the United States that has taken the boldest steps
to
eradicate the problem.

And there isn't a city that has been more forward-looking than New York.

In 1990, homelessness, not crime, was the No. 1 issue on the minds of
most
New Yorkers. The homeless were everywhere. That year, the census bureau
estimated there were 12,000 people in homeless shelters on any given
night
and another 10,000 in visible street and park locations.

The bureau would later concede that the estimates were likely low by
four or
five thousand.

Six years later, you had a hard time even finding a homeless person in
the
Big Apple. The number of those in shelters was down to 4,000 a night,
and
the number on the street was estimated to be between 3,500 and 4,000.
What
happened?

In a word, housing...

Full article: http://tinyurl.com/kd3g7

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