The Struggle with Homelessness in NYC and How Society Could Stop It
From the beginning of the Great Depression in the 1930s, poverty in New York City has been an obvious hardship for society. Homelessness is an ongoing struggle not only in the Big Apple, but around the world as well. Specifically in Manhattan, as of February 2019, there is a homeless population of 63,615 people. That number is disturbing to some, including myself. Individuals who have studied this topic have different beliefs on the causes of homelessness and how they can be resolved. By learning about how homelessness began and how we can try to help this problem, it will convince us to make a change, which will also have an impact on other places around the world with high poverty populations. While some believe homelessness is something that can’t be controlled by society, in reality there are many ways poverty can be limited through active members who try to help the devastating situation.
The Great Depression began in 1929 and lasted until 1939. The decade led to the growth of homeless settlements in the United States’ major cities, including NYC. These settlements were sometimes called “Hoovervilles,” which was a reference to the United States’ president at the time, Herbert Hoover. Individuals blamed President Hoover for the high unemployment rates which eventually led to the homeless towns around the world. The famous street, Bowery Street also represents poverty in NYC since 1645 with its earliest residents being ten families of freed slaves. According to the article, The ever-changing Bowery, “it has been poor, rich, violent, cultured, upscale, and downtrodden — all at the same time. It has also served as a buffer between neighborhoods, while never truly being part of those neighborhoods. It has born witness to every facet of New York’s history” (Nevius). Bowery lived on until the mid 1900s when it was referred to as “skid row” where men would be found sleeping in the streets, the subway, or cheap hotel rooms. However, many people believe that homelessness didn’t fully emerge until the 1980s. Individuals believe the cause of it was the release of mentally ill patients from state facilities and patterns of substance abuse. During the 1980s, the drug “crack” came to existence which led many to end up in shelter systems. As homelessness exploded, state courts forced New York City to provide shelter for the homeless which was mentioned in the Callahan vs. Carey case. The case is known as a “landmark” since it ensured the right to shelter for homeless men, women, children, and families in NYC. Around the same time, mayors have tried to overtake the ongoing growth of poverty. Edward Kotch was the mayor of NYC in 1985 and he made the decision that police officers were to remove people sleeping in the streets on freezing nights. Also, during the Rudy Giuliani administration, police conducted searches in public places, arresting homeless New Yorkers and taking them to shelters. During Mayor Bloomberg’s time in 2002, homelessness was on the rise again. Bloomberg and a group of counselors including, Linda Gibbs, created the idea of housing homeless families in an unused jail in the Bronx. The history of homelessness is important since the events contributed to where poverty stands today and shows the efforts made by some in order to help the homeless. Throughout the years, activists have tried to reduce the shelter population as best as they can but in order to make an impact we need more people to get involved.
There are many causes of homelessness and contributors to how it emerged. The National Law Center On Homelessness and Poverty states that inadequate income and lack of affordable housing are the leading causes of homelessness. The article, A Brief History of Homelessness in New York, includes how Brendan O’Flaherty, a professor at Columbia University and economist who has done research for the Department of Homeless Services, has found that the rise in income inequality and the impact of this widening gap on the housing market is the root issue of homelessness. He claims, “an increase in inequality and a smaller middle class, made it more difficult for poor people to acquire housing that had been formerly used by the middle class.” Eric Hirsch, O’Flaherty’s colleague, also states that the only unsubsidized housing construction is built at the luxury end of the market and it’s not attainable or affordable to people with low income (Jeantet). People believe that domestic violence, for women in particular, is another leading cause of homelessness. When women flee domestic abuse, they are forced to leave their homes and are left with nothing. According to Domestic Violence and Homelessness, “in 2005, 50 percent of U.S. cities surveyed reported that domestic violence is a primary cause of homelessness” (ACLU). Another strong contributor to poverty is the idea of mental illness and the lack of needed services. Disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders and substance abuse are the most common types of mental illness in the homeless population. Mental illness and homelessness are related because an individual’s mental illness, may lead to behavioral issues that make it difficult to earn a stable income or carry out basic daily activities that encourage stable housing. Without any income, the mentally ill cannot afford housing, leaving them on the streets. Many turn to substance abuse as a result to cope with their hardships. The causes of poverty discussed above can help society create ideas in which we can control homelessness.
There are many ways homelessness can be limited, and by starting with NYC, we can expand to other parts of the world and other major cities in the U.S. According to Coalition for the Homeless, research and experience have powerfully shown that investments in permanent housing are extremely effective in reducing homelessness, and is also cost-effective (“Proven”). Policies can create permanent supportive housing, in particular those with a mental illness, so that they can be treated correctly. Society can protest in order to make rental housing more affordable for those who have low income. In order to make these ideas successful, we have to get the law involved. Our voices need to be heard and more people need to be informed. More nonprofit organizations can be organized and groups can be sent to homeless shelters in order to gain knowledge on the issue. Once more people in NYC realize how bad the hardship of poverty is, they can become involved in organizations that try to decrease the severity of homelessness in more places around the world. Nonprofit organizations in NYC include: the Ali Forney Center, Bowery Mission, BronxWorks, Coalition for the Homeless, New York City Rescue Mission, Women in Need, and so many more (Marotta). These organizations help specific groups of the homeless such as the youth, women, and the LGBT community, in order to control the growing population of poor people and spread awareness. For example, Urban Pathways is a nonprofit organization based in NYC that provides housing and support for the homeless. Currently, Urban Pathways serves more than 2,500 homeless individuals a year supplying permanent housing for persistent homeless individuals. Their story is featured on CNN, From homeless to hopeful: How this man may soon be off of the streets, proving the organizations impact on the homeless society. If we create more groups like Urban Pathways, we will see a great impact on the homeless population. Employment needs to rise in order for people to receive some kind of income, because many homeless individuals in NYC are out of work. Places like restaurants, bakeries, fast food stops, laundromats, and many more places can hire and train the poor so they are able to provide for themselves. Some of these jobs have too many requirements and expectations of their employees and that is why so many are out of work. If they take time to train them, unemployment and poverty will go down. Also, most of the homeless population don’t have an education past middle school. According to, Strengthening Partnerships Between Education and Homelessness Services, research has proven that the unemployment rate for an individual with anything less than a high school diploma is about three times that of an individual that obtains a bachelor’s degree. Also, the income of someone with a bachelor’s degree is more than double that of someone with less than a high school diploma. The main reason for not getting an education is because they didn’t have the money to do so (Dukes). These trends could be ignored if more public schooling becomes available for students and financial aid requirements are lessened for colleges, and more individuals could receive an education. Another way to fix homelessness is by more programs being created in order to help the homeless who have an issue with substance abuse. Weekly programs could be put into place, including counselors who have knowledge on the subject that can help those with abuse. Certified counselors could give advice to the homeless and try to steer them away from the drug and alcohol abuse. Some can be sent to rehab facilities once they are diagnosed with substance abuse. If more people become aware of poverty, we will see more of a positive impact on the population. The homeless cannot help their living conditions and growing population unless we act upon it.
People believe the homeless need to do something to benefit themselves instead of society trying to fix it. They feel that the poor have to find a way to provide for themselves such as finding a job on their own or changing their lifestyle. Some individuals think the more we help them, the more the homeless population grows. By helping them, we aren’t giving them an incentive to seek for a job or change their living habits. Another view is that people are homeless because of the way they were raised with no working habits or motivation to work hard. Also, society thinks that the money charities give to the homeless is being abused for drugs, alcohol, and things they shouldn’t be using it for. The viewpoint is that by helping out the homeless so much, we are encouraging them to continue this lifestyle and showing them that it is okay to live like this. Another important factor is that individuals would rather ignore the issue than acknowledge it. For example, the Community West Blog’s article, Why Do People Ignore the Homeless?, claims “It’s not that people are bad, but if we make eye contact, or engage in conversation, then we have to admit they exist and that we might have a basic human need to care. But it’s so much easier to simply close our eyes and shield our hearts to their existence” (Community West Foundation). These arguments are valid, however, there are many ways society can ignore these viewpoints and change the way we see homelessness
Society needs to stop viewing organizations and charities as hurting the homeless. Instead, society can help the suffering population in order to better the situation. There is a difference between helping and enabling the homeless. Helping is doing something for someone that they cannot do for themselves. In this case, society is trying to help the poor by creating organizations that have an impact on the population and limits the issue. Enabling is when someone does something for someone even though they can do it themselves. Many homeless people cannot do simple tasks on their own. Activists for the poor are trying to get homeless people in the right direction towards a normal lifestyle. We guide them to getting an education, a job, and learning how to provide for themselves. Since people think individuals are poor because of their low work ethic and laziness, we should consider people’s backgrounds. Most of the homeless population come from already struggling families. Many were brought up in low income homes with parents who were struggling to make ends meet. According to Homeless Youth: America’s Hidden Population, 162% of the homeless population are at higher risk of becoming homeless when their annual household income was less than $24,000 (Beck). Since their family was not wealthy, some parents forced their children to work instead of getting an education. Without an education, they are stuck with a minimum wage job leading them to become homeless. Some individuals were brought up in a rough home where they were around drugs, alcohol, sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse and more. The poor household conditions could either influence them to turn to substance abuse like their parents/siblings or force them to leave with no money. According to Experiences of Homeless People in the Health Care Delivery System: A Descriptive Phenomenological Study, “Studies show that 25% of people who are homeless experienced childhood physical or sexual abuse; 33% had run away from home; and 27% had lived in foster care, a group home, or other institutions as children” (Martins). A contributor that should be recognized is race as well. According to, Characteristics of Mothers and Infants Living in Homeless Shelters and Public Housing in New York City, “The heads of household for these homeless families were disproportionately black (58%) and Hispanic (37%)” (Reilly). Another factor that increases individuals chances of becoming homeless are those coming out of foster care or juvenile prison. Another way we can change society’s viewpoints on poverty is instead of individuals giving money to the homeless we can physically help them with our services. By completing physical tasks, we can ignore the risk of the poor abusing our money to buy themselves alcohol and drugs which would feed into their addiction.
By society actively helping the homeless, we will see an impact not only in New York City but it will spread around the world. Homelessness can be controlled with the help of organizations and people themselves. For instance, as apart of my community service in high school, some of my friends and I volunteered at a soup kitchen in Brooklyn known as CHIPS. Just by volunteering for a day, I was enlightened by the way some people have to live and it influenced me to complete more acts of kindness for the homeless society. We will see a difference by making a few changes to our lifestyle such as volunteering at our local soup kitchen for a couple of hours. Once people realize the homeless populations harsh living conditions, they will want to make a difference. Society should get involved in order to spread awareness. We need to change the views some individuals have on homelessness. The poor population can help themselves in some ways but they can’t have an impact without the help of others. New York City has struggled with the issue of poverty since forever, but it isn’t too late to make a difference. Poverty will not disappear fully but it will be limited in a way that New York City and places around the world can prosper.
Works Cited
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“Proven Solutions.” Coalition For The Homeless, www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/ending-homelessness/proven-solutions/.
Reilly, Kathleen H., et al. “Characteristics of Mothers and Infants Living in Homeless Shelters and Public Housing in New York City.” SpringerLink, Springer US, 19 Dec. 2018, link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10995–018–2672–1.
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