Experts: Homeless Numbers Climbing
November 19 Filed at 6:19 p.m. ET
NEW YORK (AP) -- A lack of affordable housing and economic woes that have worsened since Sept. 11 have sent the homeless population in some of the nation's largest cities climbing, experts say.
There are now nearly 30,000 homeless adults and children in New York City shelters -- an all-time high, the Coalition for the Homeless said Monday.
New York lost nearly 80,000 jobs following the World Trade Center attack, and many people have turned to soup kitchens and food pantries.
"The number of people coming here was rather dramatic after the 11th of September," said Clyde Kuemmerle, a programs coordinator for Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen in Manhattan who estimated the increase in the hundreds.
The nation's largest city isn't alone. San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston are also seeing more homeless, said Steve Berg, spokesman for the National Alliance to End Homelessness. He warned that additional job losses may add to the problems.
Last week, the Labor Department said the number of laid-off workers drawing jobless benefits had reached an 18-year high. The nation's unemployment rate soared to 5.4 percent in October and companies eliminated 415,000 jobs, the biggest one-month drop in 21 years.
Nationwide, the homeless numbers are grim....
The number of homeless people has steadily increased in New York since early 1998; last month, the shelter census reached 29,498 adults and children. Nearly 6,600 families live in shelters and hotels each night. ... [It is] estimated that thousands more are on the streets.
[See http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Homeless-Hunger.html]
Carl
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