Radio Workshop

Homeless Count (Transcript)

by Stacey Smith

NARRATION

Tristen left the Covenant House homeless shelter 6 months ago. He found a construction job in Long Island and was able to support himself and send money to his mother back in Trinidad. But the 20 year found himself back at the youth shelter two weeks ago.

ACTUALITY

I guess things started going bad. I used to have my own apartment and all of that. I couldn't paymy rent anymore because work slow down and I had no choice but to come back

NARRATION

The homeless population is on the rise for the first time in nearly a decade. A sputtering economy has left many people jobless, and undocumented immigrants, like Tristan, are particularly at risk. In 2002, 38,500 homeless people visted city shelters, marking an all time high. So Mayor Bloomberg set out to do what no mayor has done since the late 70s--count the number of homeless people in the city. Bloomberg commissioned 1,000 volunteers to canvass 20% of Manhattan or homeless people. This data will be used by the Department of Homeless services to assess funding allocaitons for shelters, food banks and emergency care.

ACTUALITY

This is next to putting your finger on someone's nose and saying, 'you're one', you're two' and 'You're three."

NARRATION

Monseigner Ron Ahern ran a shelter in the Bowrey for 20 years and conducted informal counts for the city several times. He says the city's method isn't perfect, but maybe the most accurate that can be gotten.

ACTUALITY

"What they're trying to do now is as close as you can come I think. The problem is the city's doing it and a lot of people who think otherwise aren't going to beleive them.

NARRATION

Critics of the count are not hard to come by. Patrick Markee, president of the Coalition for the homeless, covering 20% of Manhattan will not make for an accurate number--meaning service allocation will not reflect the number of homeless people. He says that the volunteers will not be looking in subways, abandoned buildings and other places that homeless people tend to congregate. he adds that Manhattan is not a good indicator for the other boroughs.

ACTUALITY

Given the inherent inaccuracy of the number and flawed methodoly. There is no way to know whether these numbers will be an accurate indicator of movement in the population.

NARRATION

Ahern agrees with this assessment, saying that several homeless people he had seen the morning of the count said they had not been counted. He said trying to find the transient population is nearly impossible because the population does not want to be counted.

ACTUALITY

None of the poeple on the showerline this morning were counted. And they were kind of proud of it. They don't want to be counted. There's no value in being counted as they perceive it.

NARRATION

Given these unknown factors, Mackee says the city's resourses would be better used on other services. he points to initiates to create supportive housing a decade ago. Supportive housing, housing with on-sight social services and the number of homeless people on the streets, he said, dropped by nearly 40%. Such housing, says Mackee, costs no more than the emergency shelters that the city now relies on to house its homeless popoulation. Money spent finding a number, says Mackee, is money wasted.

ACTUALITY

It really seems essentially a distraction and an uncessecary investment of time and resources in doing a statistical estimate that is just going to be a political football. Ewehn the city should be investing its resources in what works to reduce street homelessness.

NARRATION

Rachel Forsythe, the director of the Covenant house youth shelter, agrees. Though she says a count is long overdue, she worries that focusing too much on keeping the numbers down can deny the needy access to services they need. She points to children who are fleeing abusive situations and women fleeing abusive relationships. These people, says Forsythe, fall through the cracks. They are turned away from shelters because they do have homes to return to. The condition of these homes, she says, is not taken into account.

ACTUALITY

These girls are going to the emergency assistance unit and being denied eligibility for various reasons. But basically the EAU is determining that they aren't homeless. And I think that that can happen when you focus on this number issue and you're looking at keeping down the numbers. You're denying people access to services they need.

NARRATION

Tristen also thinks that the city needs to do more to help the homeless and those who have been laid off from work in New York city. He hopes to be out of Covenant House as soon as possible. Though times are tough, Tristen says he is glad to have immigrated to New York. He is hopeful for his future in this country.

ACTUALITY

Yeah I'm glad I came, this is the land of opportunity, you know? I'm trying to make something of myself