Homelessness

The New York City Rescue Mission has a lot to be thankful for post-Sandy.

“It’s a little bit of a hardship to be blocks away from the worst of it,” said Joe Little, the mission’s director of community relations. “But, we were able to sustain some continuity for four or five days while being in the middle of mild-mannered chaos.”

While the mission lost power for four days, they continued to feed hundreds of people, including what Little calls the “perennial homeless” and the “temporarily homeless.”

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Four in 10 of  the city’s homeless are under 18. Many are runaways who fled abusive homes. Others have bounced around the foster care system.

Volunteers from Stand Up for Kids, an organization dedicated to helping homeless teens, gathered at Tompkins Square Park to promote Big Purple Couch Day as a part of National Homeless Teen Awareness Month. The couch represents the plight of teens who go from sofa to sofa in search of overnight shelter.