April 28, 2016 The results of the NYC Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE) Count were released today, citing a 12 percent decline in street homelessness. In response, the Coalition for the Homeless issued this statement from President & CEO Mary Brosnahan: “For years, the Coalition has taken issue with the methodology used by the City in its annual HOPE Count of homeless people on the streets. Any rational person would agree that sending volunteers out on a single, bitterly-cold night in the dead of winter and attempting to count the heads of those who appear homeless is a preposterous way to accurately gauge the magnitude of the problem. “Nobody who has spent more than thirty seconds walking through the city would believe that street homelessness has declined in the past year – let alone by double digits. It simply defies credibility.”
