Group: Home4Homeless
Group Members: Mahfuza, Fatoumata, Zuwena, and Sebastian

Describe your goals:

• Build tents
• Create havens and temporary homes
• Call for volunteers and community outreach
• Combat homelessness
• Benefit the New York Parks & Recreation
• Maintain recreational services
• Maintain our parks
• Provide a new opportunity for those who may need it

Problem Statement

Approximately 4,000 homeless people are living out in the streets in New York City. The number continues to rise despite the number of people trying to help and make shelters. New York City’s homeless rate is rising higher than the nations. Homelessness has become such a huge issue in the city that many civilians stopped responding to helping them. Every day we see people sleeping on the subway, people begging for change in the corner street, or some taking out scraps of food from a trash can. The state is doing what it can with the budget and time but it is not enough. Building shelters and funding it takes a long process and funding that may be difficult to initiate.

Abstract

So many homeless people are out in the streets in the severe weather in New York City. They often get sick, starve, and have no supplies. Not having a roof above one’s head is a struggle that could only be understood through experience. However, it is not easy to create housing for every homeless person on the street to just live in. That would cost the government or company too much money and not get anything back. Therefore, my group is proposing to start a housing program that would partner up with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to turn some parks or part of a big park into a tent area. These individual tents will be for a homeless person out in the street. In return, they would have to work with the Department of Parks and Recreation and do work such as keeping the park clean and safe. This way, the homeless person gets a place to stay and have shelter in extreme weather while NYC parks are kept clean. Despite a person being disabled, drug abuser, or old, our program will try to help everyone as long as they contribute something to Parks and Recreation. Our goal is to minimize homelessness from the streets. We want to keep people safe and help the ones who are willing to work and try to live better.
First, we will interview people to see how many people like the idea and would be interested. When these interviews and interests are known, we will move further. Then once we have the program ready to execute, we will call for volunteers who would be willing to go out and find homeless people who are willing to live in these tents and work in the parks. Furthermore, when the person receives the benefits and shelter, they have to make notes of their work every day such as which park they are working in, what they are doing, and how much they got done. There will be volunteers checking in and out to record their progress. We will try to create uniforms for them that says they are homeless and working. We think it is very important to announce that these people are not regular Parks and Recreation’s employees but rather homeless people who are working to have a shelter. Anyhow, once we are ready to go out and search for homeless people, we will have an office where they can come directly to for help. It will take about three to four months to get the process going. When a person commits to working in the park, they will help us build a tent and clean the area first. We will provide a tent, a single airbed, and a pillow. We will give them what they need to have a safe haven and in return, they work for Parks and Recreation.

Ethos: Our credibility can be shown through extensive research,
Pathos: Interview a homeless person in our neighborhood to see what they think of the idea so it would be a testimony.
Logos: Give statistics on how many homeless people are out in the streets and how it negatively impacts civilians.

Narrative 

An innumerable and great deal of individuals live without roofs over their heads and vagrant lifestyles, whilst under the effects of the atmospheric conditions of New York City. In recent years, homelessness in New York City has reached the highest levels since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Individuals that are presented under these circumstances have the tendency to fall very ill, suffer from starvation and unfortunately have no proper way to respond to these problems greatly due to the lack of abundance of supplies and materials to improve their own standards of living. Essentially, this scenario can only be understood and comprehended properly through first-hand encounters and impactful experiences of such life obstacles. Our goal is to minimize the number of homeless people on the streets of Manhattan by providing them with tents and basic necessities in NYC park with the help of the Department of Parks and Recreation.

There are organizations and programs trying to help these people but not all succeed. The New York City Department of Homeless Service gives temporary shelter to people in need, however, these shelters fill up quickly and whoever does not make it there on time is either on the waiting list or on their own fully. This problem is so real and concerning that many nonprofit organizations such as BronxWorks or Bowery Mission have programs to help the homeless. Our mission is to add to help and create a solution to have a roof on their heads when they need.

According to Coalition for the Homeless, in February 2019, there were 63,615 homeless people, including 15,344 homeless families with 22,717 homeless children, sleeping each night in the New York City municipal shelter system. Families make up three-quarters of the homeless shelter population. One may ask “Well, why not just start building homes for all the homeless people?” People need to realize that the act of creating housing for every homeless person on the street to simply live in, is much easier said than done. Fiscal efforts (including those made by private organizations) would be of fairly high prices. There are not enough property and enough money to provide it. Our group intends on solving these issues and overcoming these obstacles, through a partnership with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. We will be sharing the common goal of transforming recreational areas and parks into small housing communities through the construction and development of habitable and well-maintained tent-like temporary housing facilities, exclusively for the vagrant individuals confronted with homelessness.

In consideration of such an act of humanitarian aid in favor of those struggling with homelessness, there would be a contract stating several things the tenants will be required to complete in return. One of the key points is that those receiving benefits from the program are required to work with the Department of Parks and Recreation. Such work includes park maintenance, public events, recreational services coordination, recreational zone maintenance, and other tasks. Through this manner, the benefitted individuals receive availability for a place to stay, as well as having a safe haven under local government, while assisting the Department of Parks and Recreation in administering proper services and maintaining its facilities. In other words, the program seeks to assist all of those in need of shelter, once employed by the Department of Parks and Recreation. The program will also assist and provide health services and other essential services for extreme and special cases (disabled, handicapped, mentally ill, physical deprivation, recovering or rehabilitation) for individuals unable to provide work hours or assist in any means towards the betterment of the Parks and Recreation.
We would turn certain parks into the tents area. We would have the park cleaned properly first then the tents would be settled there. First, there would be a call for volunteers. The volunteers would get community service hours. Then these volunteers would help with the advertising of the program. We would have flyers around and send volunteers to ask homeless people on the street if they are interested in living in these tents. Harlem has a high number of the homelessness so more volunteer would be there for recruitment.

As part of our research, we will conduct interviews. The volunteers will go out first and interview local homeless people and see how they would like these tents if they were to live in it. Or if there are any certain accommodation they prefer. This will help us serve the people better and understand their needs. After the volunteers gather a reasonable amount of people willing to be living under the Department of Parks and Recreation and Home For Homeless, the work will begin. They would sign the contract and start to build a tent. Our program would provide each person with their tent, their bed, and a pillow. Each of these items will have a tracker to assure they stay in place. Together we will build the tents for the person staying. We will buy all the materials and such as the tent, bed, and pillow. The tents will be strong enough to protect against severe weather. Our end goal is to make sure, we get as many people as possible off the street and have a safe home to stay in. There will be food distribution every Sunday and the community will contribute to it. As much as it is our duty to help homeless people, the community needs to be aware of how they can help and provide for those in need.

In closing, our end goal is to lower the number of homeless people wandering around in the city. Everyone deserves a home and a safe place to sleep in. we want to be able to provide it for as many people as possible. We will start off with 250 people and stay within our budget of $100,000. Our volunteers will help make the contracts and settle tents. Together, we will build homes for those in need. We will help change lives for a better future.

Slideshow Presentation (Google Slides Link):

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1IbPP63pcTPe8XlFdCx05UwCwf3_nOWjdQbRZuZKpxJU/edit?usp=sharing