Photo attributions to Jim Fischer.
by Michelle Tejada, staff reporter
New York City has a prodigious amount of homeless people. There are people who’ve become homeless for many different reasons; unemployment, mental illness, addictions, domestic violence, and countless other causes. Homelessness in New York City has reached record levels not seen since the Great Depression.
Homeless people who were desperate for shelter created a town called “Hooverville” after President Herbert Hoover. People lost their property because they could not pay their mortgage. With shacks that they built they didn’t need to pay the bills. This is similar to a situation in NYC right now in the sense that so many people can’t afford shelter because of a financial crisis they could be facing; such as losing their jobs and becoming unemployed.
“We are in a position where we have access to everything we need and we should be grateful for what we have. So we should give back to those who don’t because they can’t do anything. We should donate, volunteer and lend a helping hand to these homeless people,” junior Gustavo Mendez said.
New York City in the last 30 years has had its shelters increased from having 12,657 people per night to 58,708. That is an increase of 46,021 people per night. Families with children are a total of 23,692 people, and adults in families have a total of 21,683 people.
“I helped this organization called the Elisha Project. It was an amazing experience. My friends and I made a lot of food and then went to a less fortunate neighborhood. It’s different to be able to interact with the homeless people. Most of them were so kind and had an interesting story to tell. I think more people should join together to help the cause,“ senior Marcella Orlando said.
Without the volunteers in these organizations, there would be no support for the homeless to get them back on their feet, or shelters to help them survive day to day.
“I donate cans to my local mosque for homeless people around the state. Also I gave a bag of my old clothes to a girl and her family that live in a shelter,” sophomore Rajaa Singh said.
The Bowery Mission is a social service organization that helps New Yorkers aid homeless people. They provide the essential needs of food, shelter, clothing and medical care. Not only do they help them meet the necessities to live, but the organization also undertakes spiritual needs, job/skill training and addiction recovery.
