Many people have made the mistake of assuming that only people living in third-world developing countries face the challenge of homelessness. However, sadly, in reality, it is not so. The United States, which promises equality to its entire population, has been facing the problem of homelessness, which has become worse in recent times. New York City, the city that never sleeps, and one of the most populous places on the earth, has been facing the huge task of providing homes to its citizens. The count of homeless in the city has been increasing exponentially. The apartments are going higher and way beyond the reach of the middle and middle-lower class of the citizens.
The landlords are losing their homes to the builders, and more and more people are being thrown out of their rented apartments. Hence, the list of homeless is growing longer and longer. In fact, the number of homeless people in New York is higher than it has ever been in the last two decades. It was estimated that more than 33000 people in New York slept in shelter homes.
The women and children who have to face poverty do not enjoy the right of security of the person. Living on the streets without food and shelter affects their health and endangers their lives. As they are homeless, they have no mental or physical security too. Thus, poverty simply means that the people are not getting their basic human rights. The blames for the huge crisis of New York was put upon the federal welfare programs, the faltering economies, and the dearth of affordable housing facilities in the city. There is a rising need for housing policies that would provide affordable homes. The homeless seek shelter in the intake center of the Department of Homeless Services in the Bronx, hoping for their help. This intake center can be said to be the epicenter of New York’s homeless crisis.
The problem of how and where to put up these homeless people has lately become very serious. The situation was so severe that the city council had to convert an unused jail to provide shelter to the homeless families. The Department of Homeless Services even had to accommodate the homeless on the benches and the floors of the emergency intake center. The Mayor’s plans to convert hotels into housing have failed as it received a lot of criticism from the local communities.
In order to solve this rising problem, Mayor Micheal Bloomberg proposed a plan to move around 9000 families into apartments from shelter homes. Many non-profit organizations like Zocalo Panel have come out with solutions to the homeless crisis by moving the unsheltered and the homeless into direct housing. However, New York’s homeless crisis is not meeting a solution in the new future.
In conclusion, it can be stated that with the rising prices in the metropolitan and with the economic recession in hand and poor housing policies in the city, the homeless families’ list is bound to grow. Even if the Mayor finds the solution to accommodate beds for everyone, the home for all the unsheltered families of New York is not on the horizon. However, the government of the United States needs to guarantee the review of their social assistance so that barriers are removed, and opportunities are created equally for all citizens.