Homelessness in Syracuse, NY

Homelessness in Syracuse, NY
CAUSES
Racial Divide
Weak Economy - Economic Downturn 2008
EFFECTS
Danger
Job Layoffs
Malnutrition
Lack of Affordable Housing
Lack of Safety
Addiction
Mental illness
Cost of Living
Food
- Meal Inexpensive Restaurant - $9.00-14.00
- Combo Meal Fast Food - $6.00-7.00
- Domestic Beer (.5L) - $2.00-4.00
- Coke (.33L) - $1.25 -2.00
- Water (.33L) - $1.00-1.50
- Milk (1L) - $0.66-0.79
- Bread (500g) $1.95-2.00
- Cigarettes $9.00-10.50
Shelter
- Transitional Support - $200/month to support a family
- Rent - City Center $350.00-500.00
- Outide of Center $300.00-800.00
Clothing
- Outfit $10.00-20.00
Transportation
- One Way Bus Ticket - $2.00
- Monthly Pass - $250.00
Mike said he grew up in abusive foster homes and dropped out of “the system” at
14. He survives on flying, making between $16 and $28 a day. Sometimes it’s
enough for food, tobacco and rolling papers and a $5 shower at a truck stop.
Sometimes, it’s not. So they have to choose.
“People’s misfortune must never be a silent remainder of
politics. It founds an absolute right to rise and address those
hold power”.
Michel Foucault
HOMELESSNESS
1. (Adjective) Without a home: a homeless child.
2. (Noun) - used with a plural verb. The homeless,
persons who lack permanent housing.
PERCENT VACANT HOUSING UNITS
SYRACUSE, NY - 2010
Court-Woodland
Washington
Square
Sedgwick
Northside
Lakefront
Eastwood
Prospect Hill
Hawley Green
Franklin Square
Far Westside
Park Ave
Lincoln Hill
Downtown
Tipp Hill
Salt Springs
Near Eastside
ADDICTION
(Noun) The state of being enslaved to a habit or
practice or to something that is psychologically
or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such
an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.
QUALITY OF LIFE
The standard of living of a given person or
persons
Near Westside
University Hill
Skunk City
Winkworth
Southwest
Southside
Strathmore
Brighton
University
Neighborhood
Outer
Comstock
Elmwood
Meadowbrook
Westcott
South Campus
North
Valley
How do those with little or no
property view what is or is not
theirs?
South
Valley
Percent Vacant Housing Units
Average Syracuse: 10.9%
1% - 4%
5% - 10%
11% - 15%
0
16% - 27%
0.5
1
2 Miles
¯
“Private property has made us so
stupid and narrow-minded that an
object is only ours when we have it,
when it exists as capital for use, or
when we can directly possess, eat
drink, wear, inhabit it, etc.”
- Karl Marx
Base drawing created by Community Geography
December 2012
Data from 2010 Census
PREVENTION OF HOMELESSNESS/TRESSPASSING IN SYRACUSE
GOVERNMENT
Security cameras and
personel on government
property
Stop trespassing if
violence occurs
Anti-sleep benches
CAUSES FOR PREVENTION
UNIVERSITY
Locked buildings - ID required
DPS Officers patrolling
No homeless allowed to sleep on campus
Keep homeless out of public spaces
PUBLIC SPACE
“A democratically accessible social space in
which people can debate critically and
reason freely; carefully designed to supervise or restrict social interaction of the
marginalized and non-governed.”
- Barbara Zukowski
CRITIQUES ON AID
In order to receive benefits from the government, you need a physical address.
“The system can be very beneficial,” Sieburg
said. “It can provide you with food, shelter, an
apartment and public assistance. But it can’t if
you’re under a bridge.”
Disadvantage to being in shelters - Lose the
social connections and networks that are established. Separate facilities for men, women and
families, may split up groups or friends when
they come in. Shelters have strict and unique
rules for the safety of the residents and community.
Fear of the Other
Not in my backyard
PRIVATE CITIZENS
Safety and security
Home security systems
War on drugs
Gated communities
Geographic separation
Know your neighbors
HELP TO END HOMELESSNESS/TRESSPASSING IN SYRACUSE
“On any given day in Onondaga County, there are more than 424 homeless individuals and families living in emergency shelters.”
PRIVATE
CITIZENS
UNIVERSITY
Onondaga county spends 2.5
million dollars a year funding shelters and homeless aid programs
Federal Government provides 7 million
dollars per year to fund homelessness
prevention prevention programs
Volunteer at homeless
shelters
Open public events
Open campus
Onondaga County received a 3 million
dollar grant from the Federal Government
in 2011 to fund their 10 Year Initiative to
end homelessness in Syracuse
Student organizations involved in
community outreach
University sponsored
initiatives
Syracuse received a 450,000 dollar grant in
March 2012 to fund permanent housing for
those coming out of homelessness
“Shelters have been
operating at 95 to
120 percent of capacity over the past year,
said Liddy Hintz,
director of emergency
and child welfare
services at the Salvation Army”
Give money to the
homeless
CHARITABLE
ORGANIZATIONS
GOVERNMENT
Provides grants to charitable organizations to support their initiatives
Social Security Benefits
Veteran benefits
Disability Pay
Provide homeless shelters
Provide programs to help the those in
need get out of homelessness
Bibliography
Herscher, Andrew, "Unreal Estate: An Introduction," in The Unreal Estate Guide to Detroit (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2012), 6-21.
Eisenstadt, Marnie and Dave Tobin, For a small group of hard-to-reach homeless in Syracuse, the street feels like home, The Post Standard, Sept
30th, 2012.
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/09/for_a_small_group_of_hard-to-r.html
Focault, Michel, "Confront Governments, Human Rights," in The Essential Works of Michel Focault, 1954-1984, Volume 3,
ed. James Faubion (New York: New Press, 2000), 159.
Mulder, James, Federal money targets Syracuse's growing homelessness problem, The Post Standard, March 14th, 2012.
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/03/federal_money_targets_syracuse.html
Cost of Living in Syracuse, NY, United States, Numbeo, October 2013.
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/city_result.jsp?country=United+States&city=Syracuse%2C+NY
Syracuse Community Geography, Vacant Housing, November 3rd, 2013.
http://communitygeography.org/maps-data-profiles/page/2/