City Enrolls Record Number of Pre-K Homeless Posted on September 29, 2015 by Jacquelyn Simone in WNYC More than half of New York City’s homeless children are enrolled in the city’s free, full time pre-kindergarten program this school year, up from 45 percent in 2014 and 31 percent in 2013. Among the 65,000 4-year-olds enrolled, 1,175 live in city s ..Read More
Young, LGBT and Homeless in Age of Broken Windows Posted on September 29, 2015 by Jacquelyn Simone in Newsweek Police officers often harm and harass rather than protect and serve LGBT youth who have traded sex for shelter in New York City, a new study says. The Urban Institute report, “Locked In: Interactions With the Criminal Justice and Child Welfare Systems fo ..Read More
City Nearly Doubles Budget for Lawyers Who Help NYers Fight Evictions Posted on September 28, 2015 by Jacquelyn Simone in Gothamist Mayor de Blasio today announced that he will nearly double his spending on legal assistance for tenants facing eviction, with an emphasis on New Yorkers living in the city’s 15 most rapidly-gentrifying neighborhoods—Crown Heights, Bushwick, and Bed-Stu ..Read More
Richard Gere on What it Was Like to Panhandle on the Streets of New York Posted on September 29, 2015 by Jacquelyn Simone in Los Angeles Confidential With the debut of his longtime passion project, Time Out of Mind, H’wood insider/outsider Richard Gere talks about the homelessness epidemic, his work for Tibet, and what he learned panhandling on the streets of New York. At 66 years old and after nearly 40 ..Read More
De Blasio Launches $12.3M Plan to Help Tenants Fighting Off Evictions Get Legal Aide Posted on September 28, 2015 by Jacquelyn Simone in New York Daily News Mayor de Blasio launched a plan Monday to hire lawyers to help tenants fight off evictions and avoid becoming homeless. The city will spend $12.3 million on the new legal services program, bringing total spending to combat eviction and landlord harassment to $ ..Read More
Up Close Interview with Mary Brosnahan Posted on September 27, 2015 by Jacquelyn Simone in WABC-TV Homelessness in New York is at or near record high numbers. So what can and should be done about it? With us is the face of New York City’s fight to deal with homelessness. And with the homeless situation more visible, more prevalent, more troubling than ..Read More
Pope Francis Preaches Support for Poor as Harlem’s Homeless Face Displacement Posted on September 25, 2015 by Jacquelyn Simone in The Guardian As Pope Francis visited uptown Manhattan with messages of support and tolerance, especially for the poor, a Harlem neighborhood struggled over how to respond to a persistent homeless population, many of whom have been evicted from an underpass in the neighborh ..Read More
‘No Justification Whatsoever’ for Homelessness, Pope Says in Washington Posted on September 24, 2015 by Jacquelyn Simone in Reuters Pope Francis met for lunch with 200 people who are homeless or living in poverty in Washington on Thursday and told them there was no social or moral justification for homelessness. Francis, after delivering a speech to the U.S. Congress in which he urged lawm ..Read More
Spotlight on ‘Homeless Jesus,’ a Humble Statue Near Pope Francis’ Lunch Posted on September 24, 2015 by Jacquelyn Simone in NBCNewYork Amid the tumult of Pope Francis blessing a lunch for the needy, a shrouded statue of Jesus lay off to the side, mostly unnoticed – pretty much the way its sculptor intended. “Homeless Jesus” is a bronze statue located outside the offices of the C ..Read More
