From NYT By Nikita Stewart
“..There are still thousands of people living in the open overnight. An annual count conducted in late January estimated 3,588 people fell into that category…”
“[they] represent a persistent challenge. Since an annual count began more than a decade ago, that population has never fallen below about 2,300, and it hit near-record levels under Mayor Bill de Blasio.
..But there has been some recent cause for cautious optimism. For the second year in a row, the number of people known as chronically homeless, or “unsheltered,” has fallen.
The decline, while modest, may be traced to more intense outreach efforts and an expansion of so-called safe havens. These specialized shelters have fewer restrictions and a streamlined application process to try to quickly place people into permanent housing…
“..Some of the homeless on the street struggle with a constellation of problems, which may include mental illness and a drug or alcohol addiction. Others prefer the independence of living in the street and balk at having to comply with the rules of the city’s shelter system, such as curfews or sobriety…”…helping them means not only providing shelter but perhaps finding a drug rehabilitation program, a psychiatrist, a medical doctor or even guidance in a getting birth certificate or Social Security card…”
“A lot of us were saying, ‘We need beds, and we need these kinds of beds,’” said Muzzy Rosenblatt, the chief executive of the Bowery Residents’ Committee [The BRC] , a nonprofit that first started the safe haven model…”
