In today's Times Union I was reading an article about local homeless families. Of course the highest concentration of homeless tends to be in urban areas like Albany, but *surprise* Ballston Spa also had 184 homeless children in 2012-3 according to the article. Many homeless families in local communities are living 'doubled up, or are 'couch surfing' ,i.e., moving from one temporary place to the next without a permanent home. Other families may have exhausted all their options and are staying in motels with assistance from the Department of Social Services. Often a whole family is living for weeks or even months at a time in a single motel room without kitchen facilities. Think about that. Imagine your whole family spending months in a cramped motel, eating convenience food because you lack cooking facilities. It's a less than ideal. Individuals staying in these DSS-sponsored motels outnumber families, but on a single recent day in Saratoga County 2 families (as well as 26 individuals) were housed in these motels.
We may not be perfect, but we can do better than this. Local groups like the Saratoga County Housing Committee are working to bring programs and services to help homeless persons...and to address gaps in services that can help prevent homelessness. In fact this group has brought $4.1 million in housing and support services to address homelessness in Saratoga County. Want to know more? Want to get involved? For more information call the Saratoga Springs Office of CommunityDevelopment at 518-587-3550 x 575
Saratoga Springs City School District had 157 homeless students this school year. At graduation this week , there will be 6 students who are homeless that will walk across the stage and get their diplomas. These students will blend in with the rest of the senior class but when the day is over, they will return to a campground, a motel room, or a friend's or relative's house not knowing how long they will be able to stay there. -Diane Davis, Homeless Liaison, Saratoga Springs City School District
ReplyDeleteDiane, Thanks for sharing the statistics on homeless kids in Saratoga Springs. On the national level I've seen a lot of articles lately on homeless teens and great successes despite their challenges. Check out this inspiring story of a teen with 'no excuses' http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/28/homeless-teen-valedictorian-college_n_5405030.html
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