Politicians plans for helping solve homelessness in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago
The bigger the city, the bigger the problem of homelessness is. In Los Angles, there are over 82,000 homeless people on any given night. In New York City, the number is around 60,000. Chicago's number is about 48,000.
What are politicians doing to try to solve this problem and get people off the street.
In L.A., Mayor Eric Garcetti proposed a bill that would authorize over $1 billion to provide 10,000 permanent housing units for the homeless. The law was passed by voters last November.
In NYC, according to a New York Times story, Mayor Bill de Blasio is trying to get 90 new shelters built. He wants to do this in the areas where homeless families are living so they don't have to be displaced and children can continue to attend their current schools.
So what's happening in Chicago? Because the state has not approved a budget in two years, many groups are being affected by lack of funding. As usual it's the one who need the help the most that take the biggest hits.
Last fall, the North Side Housing shelter, in Chicago's Uptown area needed $100,000 to remain open for 2017. It's a 72 bed shelter and because of the budget crisis it looked like they were going to be forced to close on Christmas day. Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner had this response, "Unfortunately, due to the Democratic majority's failure to pass a balanced budget, meaningful organizations are being forced to make difficult decisions."
Luckily, due to private donations and help from the city, the shelter was funded at the last minute and was able to remain open for another year.
That's how our leaders handle the problem of homelessness in our biggest cities. Keep these stories in mind when you vote.
This is another story in the Face Of Homelessness series. Tomorrow we have a story about a formerly homeless college basketball player who leads his team into March Madness.
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