In February, amidst record homelessness in New York City, Governor Paterson released a budget proposal that would cut more than $100 million from homeless services. If enacted, these cuts would result in increased homelessness and reduced services--possibly forcing many men, women, and children from shelter to the street. In addition, New York City taxpayers would be burdened with the responsibility of making up for the difference or allowing thousands of homeless individuals to be left without services. Urge Governor Paterson to abandon this budget proposal that endangers the most vulnerable New Yorkers.
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In 2005 Mayor Bloomberg broke with a longstanding and successful New York City policy which targeted scarce Federal housing resources -- including Section 8 vouchers and public housing -- to homeless families and individuals. Instead, the administration actually eliminated homeless New Yorkers' priority for such assistance. Since then, the number of homeless children and families has skyrocketed, hitting an all-time high in the fall of 2009, when more than 10,000 families slept in shelter each night. Please urge Mayor Bloomberg to restore Federal housing assistance to homeless New Yorkers.
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This summer, at the urging of the Bloomberg administration, New York State officials approved punitive new rules that will result in many homeless children and adults in New York City being ejected from shelter to the streets. This new policy requires that homeless families be ejected from shelter for at least 30 days for failing to comply with a long list of bureaucratic requirements such as missing appointments, failing to pay shelter "rent," or if a homeless family's welfare case is suspended or closed - something that happens routinely due to bureaucratic error.
The Legal Aid Society and Coalition for the Homeless have submitted a petition to New York State to modify these new rules, which are dangerous and counterproductive for homeless families in many ways. Please urge Governor Paterson to make the proposed changes in State rules to protect homeless families and individuals from loss of emergency shelter.
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Rosa Bracero was on track to graduate until her family's homeless shelter application process forced her to miss her Regents exam. She took a make up exam, but school officials would not accept it, and moreover, might not let her graduate. In large part because of the pressure and attention the Coalition was able to garner for Rosa's story, David Steiner, the New York State Education Commission, took swift action to move forward with her graduation. With your help, hundreds of letters were sent urging Mayor Bloomberg to take a stand and change policies that hurt homeless students. YOU gave a voice to the 16,000 homeless children in New York City who face hardships like Rosa's every day. Because of YOU, Rosa will now have a brighter future! Thank you!
Let's keep the momentum going! This success demonstrates what can happen when the Coalition fights back. Please take a minute to participate in our other action campaigns to help us continue to improve the policies affecting homeless and low-income men, women, and children.