Mayor de Blasio, Cardinal Dolan announce new initiative addressing homelessness

The mayor appeared with Cardinal Timothy Dolan at a Bronx homeless shelter to make the announcement.

The Catholic church will provide housing for 150 homeless New Yorkers in honor of Pope Francis’ visit, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office said in a statement on Wednesday. “We must do all that we can to uplift those struggling and help them get back on their feet”.

“His Holiness reminds us of our common humanity, and he instructs us to think of people who don’t have a home first as human beings, not as faceless burdens on society”, de Blasio said. Among the items on Pope Francis’ packed itinerary are a Mass at Madison Square Garden, a prayer service at the September 11 memorial and a visit to an East Harlem school filled with students from low-income families.

The city is relying on some divine intervention to help solve the homeless crisis.

“Our cities have been transformed by the skills and the spirit of those who come to us from around the world“, the letter reads.

These types of shelters, known as “safe havens”, are usually run by nonprofits and have fewer restrictions compared to regular shelters.

De Blasio said the influx of beds will help deal with the homelessness problem, which began to grow under ex-Mayor Michael Bloomberg and continued under the current administration.

The city says the majority of homeless New Yorkers – now 57,209 now – live in the city’s shelters.

Dear President Obama: We commend your decision to open America’s doors to at least 10,000 Syrian refugees displaced by civil war, and applaud your commitment to increase the overall number of refugees the USA will resettle over the course of the next two years.

Safe Haven shelters differ from traditional offerings for the homeless in that they are in small settings, typically around a dozen beds a site, and come with social services. The 150 unveiled Wednesday will be in archdiocese properties. The city’s larger goal is to create 500 new beds for homeless people through partnerships with faith-based organizations, Metaxas reported.