Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Planning Today: NYC Offers Homeless Families a Way Out
9:59 PM | 
Posted by
David Boston
Though I have been critical of some of Mayor Bloomberg's other methods of reducing homelessness, it looks like this program is quite helpful, albeit small. Though the program is just recently enjoying attention from the media, homeless families in New York have been able to use this program as a way of leaving the city since 2007.
The way that it works is the city employs a local travel agency to book one-way domestic tickets (the Department of Homeless Services handles international tickets) for homeless people in the city to go wherever they have family willing to support them, if they want to, and the city pays for the tickets.
Local social workers help to let people know about this program and their option to move if they so desire. If a social worker confirms that the homeless individual or family has family willing to support them elsewhere, they can then go and have their one-way travel expenses paid for by the city.
This plan would work nicely in many areas, because many people who are homeless while living in a metropolitan poverty pocket may not stay that way for long in an environment with more opportunities for self-improvement or for work. But this plan is especially effective in a city like New York.
New York is a city that many people think of when trying to decide on a destination to start a new life. That's the city that people go to when they want to move out of their small town and make it big. But, life in New York City turns out to be a lot different from this glamorous version of the city that people normally think of. And many people end up finding out the hard way without having enough money set aside to make the return trip home.
Also, did I mention that the city ends up saving a lot of money by paying for one-way tickets to a family member as opposed to the upkeep cost per family in a NYC shelter?
Thanks for reading.
- David
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Who is this fool?
- David Boston
- I graduated from the University of North Florida with a BA in Political Science, double-minoring in Public Administration and Urban & Metropolitan Studies. Starting in the Fall of 2010, I'll be pursuing a Master's degree in Urban Studies and Planning from the University of Maryland - College Park.
3 comments:
In my opinion this is a great program. Especially for the young adults that decide to come here and find hardship. One way ticket home...how ideal.
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We are next-generation providers of integrated passenger scheduling solutions, covering all aspects of Vehicle and Passenger Scheduling, Routing, Vehicle Tracking and Mobile Communications and the partner of choice for many of today's leading commercial communication.
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