arrow An aerial view of downtown Brooklyn. bonandbon / Shutterstock
Non-profit groups that run homeless shelters say they’re facing the worst cash crunch in several years due to significant delays in payments from New York City.
During the pandemic, the de Blasio administration vastly expanded the shelter options it offered as it sought to protect homeless people from the coronavirus. But these efforts have resulted in so many new contracts and changes to existing ones that the city is having a hard time keeping up. And even when contracts are fully registered, homeless shelter providers say the city is failing to pay their invoices on time.
How the 3 Diallo Sisters Were Finally Able to Connect to Their Classes
The city said it would be “impossible” to quickly install Wi-Fi in shelters for remote learning. Some shelter operators have proven them wrong.
Aaron Morris, 15, who lives in a family shelter in Brooklyn and attends school online, says the unreliable internet in his apartment is hurting his grades.Credit.Bryan Anselm for The New York Times
School days at the Diallo sisters’ apartment in the Bronx can be hectic.
Adama, the oldest, attends high school from the black couch in the corner of their apartment in a family homeless shelter. Her 10-year-old sister, Hawaou, sits nearby at the dining table, firing back answers to her math teacher’s questions. Her youngest sister, Aissatou, 7, sprawled on a bed in the other room, giggles her way through her second-grade lessons.
arrow Victoria Parker, center, and Edward Casabian, both of New York and working with The Robin Hood Foundation, an organization that helps the poor, speak to a homeless person as they take part in a count and survey of homeless persons in 2016. Craig Ruttle/AP/Shutterstock
New York City will change how it conducts its annual street homelessness count as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Normally, on a January night, a few thousand volunteers fan out across the five boroughs to count the number of people living on city streets and in the subway system. Instead, in 2021, the survey is expected to take place over several nights, and it will be conducted by city workers and nonprofit outreach providers. Volunteers won’t participate due to health and safety concerns caused by the pandemic.