The GDP of America is an astronomical $18 trillion. To put it in perspective, if California seceded from the United States, it would have the eighth largest GDP of all the countries in the world (just beating out Italy). When you start to consider just how much money exists in America, it makes the fact [...]
A question I hear a lot when I’m talking about homelessness in New York, is: “why don’t the homeless just stay in shelters?” It is more complex than many New Yorkers imagine–both the problems and the purported solutions. For me, the more important question is: ‘why shelters at all?’ As someone who has spent a [...]
This post was originally featured on HuffingtonPost.com There’s no place on Earth quite like New York City. Its energy and opportunity attract millions of people who want to be part of the Big Apple, and to those millions, the city gives so much. Actors, artists, businessmen, and professionals all benefit from everything New York has [...]
New York City is famous the world over for its glitz and glamour, featured in all sorts of popular entertainment from movies to television shows. Yet not all that glitters is gold. Life in paradise is much harder than one may think. In fact, many New Yorkers are one paycheck away from homelessness, forced into a monthly catch-22--a cycle causing of perpetual anxiety.
This post was originally featured on HuffingtonPost.com Paramedics and EMTs have a lot of exposure to people living on the streets. Some are hardened by these experiences, but I don’t know a single EMT who hasn’t been forever changed. As a volunteer EMT myself, I have seen far too many homeless people die from the [...]
As a real estate developer and a volunteer EMT, I see things other developers don’t get to see: that the homeless people dying in the streets aren’t invisible. To me, the homeless aren’t a “problem”, they’re a product of a bigger issue, one that NYC hasn’t begun to figure out how to solve. Because New [...]
NYC Public School kids return to their classrooms on September 8. Generally, back to school time is filled with both sadness of summer coming to an end, and excitement regarding the start of a new chapter and connecting with friends. Yet for some of New York’s most vulnerable groups, those living with extreme poverty, returning [...]
Half of New York City’s residents live in near poverty, according to a study from 2014. A large percentage of those who find it difficult to get by, are people of color--Asian, African American and Latino groups, whose socioeconomic status is a result of generational gaps in wealth, and unlikely to change without assistance. For [...]
As recent as 2013, homelessness among children in the United States reached 2.5 million, making it the largest amount in history and a remarkable 8 percent increase over the previous year. What’s more is that this issue affects one 1 in 30 children, in every city, county and state in the country, and the number [...]
The New York Foundling is an organization that is dedicated to helping underserved children and families, as well as adults with developmental disabilities. The Sisters of Charity founded this organization in 1869 as a home for abandoned children. This organization works hard to give resources to a variety of people in need. The people they [...]