JEREMY STRIANO: This is your ordinary park bench. It sits here at Clinton square in downtown Syracuse. To most it’s a place to rest after a long day. Yet To some it’s a place to sleep. Since the COVID 19 pandemic, the homelessness rate has increased in Syracuse, with housing rates rising even more. Director of the Housing and Homeless Coalition of Central New York Megan store says that HHCs mission provides help for families in need.
MEGAN STUART: So, we’re a coalition of about thirty plus organizations that come together to coordinate services, create service networks, to really serve people who are experiencing both sheltered and unsheltered homelessness to get them back into safe permanent housing as quickly as possible.
STRIANO: According to their official website, The Housing and Homeless Coalition has reported a general spike in homelessness since 2021, spiking at an approximately 40%. Yet the most astonishing of the facts presented is the family rate. Stuart says that the family rate has been the most alarming statistic and has been unfortunately rising since their annual count last January.
STUART: Over the past few years, we’ve seen an an over 60% increase in families experiencing homelessness and that’s families with young children, so children under 18.
STRIANO: Stuart also mentions that Mother Nature has a say in the rates, too. Whether if it is the dog days of summer or the dead of winter, the HHC tries its very best to collaborate with their partners to get people sheltered as efficiently as possible.
STUART: I think there is a spike in visible homelessness during the summer. During the winter especially in this area with our with our weather we try really hard to get folks inside. Our shelters will relax rules, reduce barriers for folks to get in, just to protect them from the elements.
STRIANO: And for those who are interested in doing their part. Volunteering and clothing donations are just two ways of getting involved. But Stewart says that there is one way that would stand out above the rest.
STUART: Having a voice for affordable housing development in the region. So you see a lot of folks who don’t want affordable housing in their neighborhoods, but we need is people who are supportive of that, to voice their support.
STRIANO: Now out of respect for those experiencing homelessness, I decided to leave any conversation or interaction I had with them out of the story due to their own safety, as I felt that the camera kind of intimated them a bit. So, now it’s up to people like you and me to help make a difference and one way by doing that is by donating your old or used clothes into bins like the ones behind me. Something as small as that could help make a huge difference for many. In Syracuse, Jeremy Striano, NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – A park bench that sits in the middle of Clinton Square in downtown Syracuse might be seen by many as place to rest after a long day. Yet to some, that same bench could be their place of rest at night.
Since the COVID 19 pandemic, the homelessness rate has increased in Syracuse, with housing rates rising even more. Director of the Housing and Homeless Coalition of Central New York Megan Stuart mentioned that the HHC’s mission provides immediate help for families in need.
“We’re a coalition of about thirty plus organizations that come together to coordinate services, create service networks,” Stuart said. “To really serve people who are experiencing both sheltered and unsheltered homelessness to get them back into safe, permanent housing as quickly as possible.”
Since 2021, the Housing and Homeless Coalition has reported a general spike in homelessness with the most alarming statistic being the increase of the family rate.
“Over the past few years, we’ve seen an over 60 percent increase in families experiencing homelessness,” Stuart said. “And that’s families with young children, so children under 18.”
For those looking to do their part, one way to give back is by donating your old or used clothes into donation bins. Stuart stated that there is one way to give back that would stand out above the rest.
“Having a voice for affordable housing development in the region,” Stuart said. “So, you see a lot of folks who don’t want affordable housing in their neighborhoods, but we need people who are supportive of that to voice their support.”
