Read this first: Is New York Exporting Their Homeless Folks to Texas? (Spoiler Alert: No.)
Yesterday we wrote: “A recent headline blared: Homeless New Yorkers are being sent to San Antonio, other U.S. cities. Is it true? Are they sending them to Dallas? What is MDHA going to do about this?
OK, folks. Sound the “all clear”. No one is exporting homeless folks. It’s a myth. In fact, if you read the pamphlet from NYC, it states very clearly that all this is a family reunification program.”
The name of that program in NYC is Project Reconnect. And, as we explained yesterday, we and our partners use family reunification as a solution for ending a person’s homelessness all the time. And, once a person is reunified with family, they are no longer homeless.
We also elaborated on why we sometimes encounter these myths, excuses we make for why homelessness exists, and what we should do instead, i.e. house people and end homelessness.
Another New York City program, under the gun in the same and other pieces floating around the internet, is SOTA, which, “provides one year’s full rent up front for eligible DHS clients to move within New York City, to other New York State counties, or to another state, Puerto Rico, or Washington, D.C. SOTA can be accessed by working individuals and families and those who receive SSI, SSD, etc. as long as there is the future ability to make rent payments based on the household’s rent not exceeding 50% of the household’s income.”
So, do we need to sound the alarm on this program? Is THIS finally proof that the myth of hordes of exported homeless people is true? Once again, sound the “all clear”. No one is exporting homeless folks. It’s a myth.
All you need to do is read the above, carefully. The only way to qualify for the program is to find an apartment, and prove your ability through regular income, to pay the rent with enough money left over to cover your expenses, after the program is over.
Let’s think about this very carefully, now: If you are a person living in an apartment, able to pay your rent, guess what? You are not homeless!
There are legitimate criticisms of SOTA. It does seem like there are cases, where the implementation was not perfect, and even a number of cases where folks returned to shelter. However, since you are not even eligible for the program, without staying in shelter for 90 days already, even those folks ended up no worse off than they started, while the vast majority were able to escape homelessness. No program can withstand scrutiny especially in the area of homelessness, if it is expected to work 100% of the time.
Finally, as we wrote yesterday, let’s remember, with regard to homeless folks living in any given area, “in-migration and out-migration cancel each other out.” So, as a New Yorker might say, enough with the kvetching. Let’s get on with housing our homeless friends.
