Policies are always changing in this country, some for good and some for bad. For homelessness there has been very strict policies that make life harder for the poor. One program that is continuing to fail for the Bloomberg administration is the advantage program. This program helps to pay for rent for the homelessness. Recently Mayor Bloomberg announced his administration is going to stop paying rent for "approximately 8,000 families still receiving subsidies under the advantage program." Many households that weren't homeless no more have become homeless again. Without a proper subsidy to assist the people they will not be able to afford there rent. Another government program is section 8. They provide rental assistance to families in need. Recently they have put a hold on the applicants and no one else can apply. They are not taking any more applicants unless they have a family because they are prioritized or have been in shelters for a significant amount of time. Homelessness is not simply a result of a bad economy, it is also caused by the shrinking number of affordable housing options available to poor and working people in New York City. New York is trying to make progress in creating affordable housing, but the pace is too slow to keep up with the city's needs. Policies need to be fixed and created to help the needy instead of working against them. We are all New Yorkers and we should work as a whole to fix this problem. Although Mayor Bloomberg has contributed greatly to the increase of homelessness let Mayor Bill De Blasio be reminded that what affects homeless families affects all of us.
Giselle Routhier "Mayor Bloomberg’s Failed Homeless Policies Are Affecting Landlords Too" Coalitionforthehomeless.org February 27, 2012 Web April 11,2014
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