by Jessica Easthope
MANHATTAN โ New York stateโs overall homeless population dropped nearly 8% last year to about 146,000 people, according to the state comptrollerโs office, but advocates who work with the homeless say the figures mask a more complicated reality, including sharp increases in many regions outside New York City and growing pressure from rising costs for food, housing and health care.
The decline of more than 12,000 people was driven largely by New York City. The state still has one of the highest homeless populations in the country. More than 100,000 homeless people walk the cityโs streets every day.
โThose statistics donโt apply to us here by the Penn Station area where weโve seen an increase, not a decrease. For a variety of reasons. But weโre here to serve the people, thatโs part of our charism as Franciscans, to serve the poor or the anawim. And weโll continue to do so,โ said Father Brian Jordan, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Midtown Manhattan, home to the St. Francis Breadline.
The breadline has not missed a single day of feeding New York Cityโs hungry since 1930. Father Jordan said the number of homeless people may be down statewide, but conditions on the street tell a different story of ongoing struggle and need. He pointed to federal cuts to Medicaid and SNAP benefits as factors drawing more people to the breadline for help.
โDue to the cuts in Medicaid and Snap, weโre seeing more people that less, come into our bread line of services coming in for for guidance. We refer them to social workers and from the city and from other nonprofit groups. Immigration counseling we provide. We have an excellent immigration attorney,โ he explained.
The New York State comptrollerโs report also noted a troubling rise in homeless children, who now make up nearly 32% of the stateโs homeless population โ more than double the national rate.
More than 300,000 New Yorkers could lose their SNAP benefits because of new work requirements and shifts in funding.
โPart of our democracy and part of, of our country is, to serve all the people and part of our Catholic social teaching is to help the people of God, to have, the have nots. So weโre taking care of the haves,” Father Jordan told Currents News. “This country has not done a good job of taking care of the have nots.โ
He added that any statewide progress is quickly offset by climbing costs for food, housing and health care.
According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for the New York metro area and national averages, a dozen eggs that cost about $1.68 in 2016 now costs between $2.19 and $2.35. A gallon of milk has risen from roughly $3.19 to more than $4. A pound of white bread is up from $1.42 to about $1.81. Ground beef has nearly doubled, from under $4 a pound to around $6.70 to $6.80. A pound of chicken breast that cost $3.27 a decade ago now averages about $4.17.
For many families already stretched thin, those increases make it even harder to remain housed and fed.
The Vatican has also addressed the broader homelessness crisis. In a recent message to the United Nations, the Holy Seeโs Permanent Observer Mission urged the international community to make ending homelessness a priority. The statement said the continued presence of people without homes โshould trouble the conscience of the international community.โ
Housing is not merely a commodity or financial asset, the mission said, but a cornerstone of society that supports family life and enables people to fully participate in their communities.
The Holy See’s message cited Pope Leo XIVโs encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, which emphasizes that true development must place the human person at the center.