Daniel Neiditch’s Blog
Spotlight on Coalition for the Homeless
As the oldest non-for-profit advocacy and direct service organization focused on homelessness in the United States, Coalition for the Homeless, has taken part in landmark litigation to protect the rights of homeless people, including the right to shelter and the right to vote. Since 1981 the Coalition for Homeless has worked to help those that are currently homeless and has participated in advocacy work for long-term solutions to the problem of homelessness. They “believe that affordable housing, sufficient food and the change to work for a living wage are fundamental rights in a civilized society” (coalitionforthehomeless.org). Today, with over 60,000 people sleeping in homeless shelters [...]
Spotlight on Learning Leaders
Learning Leaders, formally the New York City School Volunteer Program, is a nonprofit organization based in New York City that is dedicated to engaging families and communities to support student success. Founded in 1956, the organization runs many family and community engagement programs in order to help New York City’s public school students. Their mission is to “help New York City public school students succeed by training volunteers to provide individualized instructional support and other school-based support, and by empowering parents to foster their children’s education development” (learningleaders.org). Throughout the 2013-2014 school year, Learning Leaders had over 4,000 volunteers working with 180,000 students through partnerships [...]
Understanding Homelessness
Many people think of homeless people as dirty. They imagine them walking around with shopping carts filled to the brim with things that they have collected from trash cans. While, yes, there are some homeless people who fit this description, this is a generalization that doesn’t fit every homeless person. Every person who is currently living on the streets has a different story of how they got there. You will never know their past unless you take the time to talk to them. Some people panhandling on the corner could have spent time serving our country abroad or could have been kicked out by their [...]
Spotlight on Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC
Since 1904 Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City has helped over 100,000 needy children. It is one of the oldest and largest youth mentoring organizations in the United States. There are many different programs within the organization, the biggest one being the Traditional Mentoring Program, where kids aged 7-17 are paired up with an adult mentor. Other programs include the 9/11 Together We Stand Program where children who lost a parent or a close relative in the World Trade Center attacks are provided long-term help, the New American Partnership, which helps first generation youth Americans navigate a new world and culture, the Young [...]
Why We Should Care About Underprivileged Children
For some people, giving to charity isn’t on the top of their to-do list. They don’t understand what the point is and they might even believe that their money won’t be used for any good. But they are wrong. If you have the financial means to do so, giving to charity is one of the most important things that you can do. Especially when that charity is working to help underprivileged children. Children are our future. Without them, our country and our world would go nowhere. Not only will giving to charities that help children benefit the children themselves, but it will also positively affect [...]
Facts About Child Homelessness in New York City
There is no accurate measure of the population of New York City’s unsheltered homeless. As a result, we aren’t able to truly gauge the homeless problem. Nevertheless, as a result of the people living in shelters and educated estimates, we are able to get what we believe to be an accurate representation. Child homeless makes up a large percentage of the New York City homeless population. Almost forty percent of homeless people in New York City are children (The Children’s Aid Society). According to the Huffington Post, as of March 2015 there are a record number of homeless children in New York City. The Coalition [...]