Project Brief

The Future of Homelessness and the Shelter-Industrial Complex group has broken down the expectations and specific subjects for each member this week as we finalize our goals and work on the white paper. Anna, who is focusing on the history of homelessness policy, has been exploring how “the political and economic environment of the city” is a key component in how policy is shaped. She points out the different factors and changes that occurred with each new mayor, and how their own personal beliefs affected homeless policy. Corrin also went back in time in her portion in order to define what cluster sites are, how they have been represented in the past, and how they play a role in the present. Then Zumana is working on outlining the current homelessness policies that the city is working with. Since talking to our contact, it has become clear that current policies leave much to be desired.

That is where Riley and I come in. We have decided to outline and focus on the specific problems with homeless policy that have been highlighted in the past five years. Our research, from various sites that have looked over the most recent shelter reports, has concluded that while the city is spending roughly $360 million dollars towards the shelter system, private owners are pocketing a large portion of this. The most disgusting part of this dilemma is the condition these shelters are left in, specifically in terms of building code violations and overall low standards of living. We are specifically focusing on the most recent report, as it exposes the fact that there are hardly any inspections of these privately owned shelters on a consistent basis, thus leaving many homeless people to have to choose between the streets and mold/rat infested housing. Our contact has also shared various documents, which expose one specific family that we have mentioned in class before, who have made $90 million dollars from the city through their control of shelter housing.

Brett is also looking at what’s wrong with the current situation, but from a different perspective. After we have presented all the facts regarding the wasted money and building violations, Brett will be talking about how the homeless feel about this situation. This is vital towards our project because at the end of the day it is the homeless themselves that our contact speaks out for, as they are the people who are victim to the current lack of fair policy and regulation for their housing.

Then comes the most important part of our presentation where we can go from here. Omar and Bethany will be discussing the pros and cons of realistic solutions to the current problem, such as community land trusts and mutual housing authorities. One important key concept that will be focused on is the idea behind the term “affordable housing.” Our concept may be different from the one currently held as the standard for the city. We also want to propose the idea of making these policies more democratic, which is to say that the people should have input into the future of homelessness policies.

Overall the white paper is going well. Each member has a specific area/ assignment that has been committed to. Together our pieces put together an entire picture of the problems that face the homeless in New York City and how we can positively change the current policies that are preventing the homeless from getting assistance of living. Our major goal is to propose ideas that will, in the long-term, allow the homeless time and space to get on their feet and for them to have a high standard of living.