Helping the Homeless

The problem of homelessness seems to be increasing in certain metropolitan areas. Politicians representing those areas should be considering plans to alleviate homelessness.

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration has relocated 2,226 homeless families from New York City to 62 New Jersey towns. Additionally, 1,781 homeless families have been relocated to New York City.

This NJ.com article details some negative effects on the recipient families. 

1. Because the rent is paid a year in advance, the landlord may not be leveraged by next month's rent to make repairs to the property. 
2. Some of the properties have not been properly inspected before being rented (as required by law in some municipalities).
3. The families relocated in this manner are disconnected from the family support system they may have shared in the location they lived previously.

Rivka Cubine suggested that closed malls could be retrofitted to house homeless families. We spoke about this together and determined the following details:

• Every Mall has been built to manage thousands of people.
• Every Mall has sufficient bathroom facilities.
• Every Mall has some form of foodcourt support for feeding hundreds of people.
• Closed Malls are available.

Of course, there is no infrastructure to feed the thousands of people that could be housed in the Malls. There are many individuals who would be willing to donate time to operate a food pantry and a soup kitchen.

I am not a social worker or a philanthropist or even an event organizer. I am certain that people with the ability and knowledge to organize and implement a mall reorientation and rehabilitation can plan such transformation to create an environment for homeless families.

Consider compartmentalizing a large floorspace into apartments; using foodcourt space for soup kitchens; making small business spaces into schoolrooms, adult retraining centers, and small businesses based upon the skills of the people being housed; food pantries manned by the families using the living space and those pantries filled by individual gifting and by philanthropy. Salvation Army could have an office in one of the spaces for those who would like to interface with their organization. The people living in the RetroMall could accept furniture, clothing, and electronic donations. 

There are many skills among the homeless community that could become more effective in their lives if they can shift their focus from staying warm and out of the elements. 

What a change it would make if the population currently homeless could be allowed to make their home in abandoned malls or other structures with the help and support of the politicians, charitable organizations, and philanthropists in the area where they live.

Shipping people off to other cities may not be the only solution to homelessness. We may already have the infrastructure in place to assist. Someone with knowledge about how to make this happen should read this, change it to fit reality, and get to work.

Thanks for listening. Comment if you would like.