By: David Ben Hooren & Dr. Dan Miller
On Tuesday December 17, New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio joined by clergy from different faiths, leaders of faith based organizations and NYC government officials gathered at the Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village and announced his master plan to essentially end on street homelessness in New York City. The plan was supported by leaders who attended, some who had an opportunity to speak to the two hundred who were in attendance.
Mayor de Blasio announced its that this plan is the “first-in-the nation, 6- Point Action Plan to end long-term street homelessness in New York City over the next five years. The plan will increase housing, mental health and medical services for unsheltered individuals, and enhance outreach resources to deliver more urgent and rapid responses to unsheltered individuals in need.”
Mayor de Blasio offered a full explanation of this historic plan explaining that this is a coordinated effort of the city with many not for profit organizations that have experience in placing homeless
“Homeless New Yorkers are just like us—they deserve our love and compassion and a commitment to go as far as we can to help,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “So here’s our promise: we will help every last person experiencing long-term homelessness off our streets and we will do more than we ever thought possible to bring them home.”
Referencing the city’s outreach workers, DeBlasio said: “Our outreach workers who go out day after day to connect with folks who have fallen on hard times –they give some of that love. They give some of that hope, but they know better than anyone, it’s not the same as a home.”
“Every one of us, every one of us wants that feeling in our lives and needs it and deserves it. So why does this reality exist? Because our society now for decades has failed. It’s failed over the years. Many tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands – in fact, if you look nationwide, millions of Americans at one point or another were homeless. Why? Because we have a society still riven by inequality”.
The mayor’s six-point plan will:
Increase Safe Haven capacity by opening 1,000 new Safe Haven beds
- Create 1,000 new low-barrier permanent apartments by working with partners across the housing and social services sectors
- Deliver new health resources to people where they are, providing treatment through street medical care and behavioral health care, and build the trust needed for clients to come inside
- Provide coordinated rapid outreach response through the Street Homelessness Joint Command Center
- Leverage state-of-the-art outreach technology to better connect clients to the services they need to transition into housing
- Expand Diversion and Outreach in our subway system