A woman sleeps on the Liberty Street sidewalk. More homeless people in Lower Manhattan are accepting services than in years past, according to the Downtown Alliance. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib
This year, more than 100 homeless people so far have agreed to leave the streets and subways of Lower Manhattan and take advantage of a variety of services, a big increase over years past, according to the Downtown Alliance.
The Alliance and Trinity Church each provide half of the $350,000 that funds the Bowery Residents’ Committee [1]’s (BRC) homeless outreach services from Murray Street south, the area covered by the Alliance. Placements in the last five years averaged just 72 for the entire year, the Alliance said.
As of mid-October, a Downtown Alliance spokesman said, that number has reached 115.
“This is an important milestone, and speaks to our success this year in moving vulnerable New Yorkers off the streets and into shelter,” Downtown Alliance President Jessica Lappin said in a statement.
Homeless individuals are often approached by BRC’s outreach teams many times before they agree to get help, the Alliance said.
The Downtown Alliance cites several possible factors for the higher success rate, including sustained outreach “over months and sometimes years,” shifts in the homeless population, and changes in how the homeless perceive the supportive services that are available. Those offerings, which supplement the work of the city’s Department of Homeless Services, include stabilization beds, public and private shelters, drop-in centers, and hospital care.
“The [outreach] team has done an exceptional job building trust and relationships with clients in this community, helping to guide them towards housing. Local partnerships that are flexible, like that of BRC and the Downtown Alliance, allow providers and clients to truly build trust,” BRC President and CEO Muzzy Rosenblatt said in a statement, “and the outcomes speak for themselves.”
Links:
[1] https://www.brc.org/