Homelessness is something that is very real for a lot of Americans especially in the city that never sleeps, New York. For these people who face this as an everyday reality sleep is one of the hardest things to come by, along with food, drinks, security, feeling safe, shelter and having that family bond or friendship. Things that people like us have no problem obtaining are an everyday struggle for them. While most people are upset because maybe they want more of this or that, these people are grateful to get anything at all. Most times scavenging through garbage for their next meal or begging for change on the train. .
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In New York City alone, not the state, the numbers are astonishing for the amount of homeless people. Each night more than 55,000 people -- including more than 21,000 children -- experience homelessness. Currently 50,100 homeless men, women, and children bed down each night in the NYC municipal shelter system. Additionally, more than 5,000 homeless adults and children sleep each night in other public and private shelters, and thousands more sleep rough on the streets or in other public spaces. During the course of each year, more than 110,000 different homeless New Yorker's, including more than 40,000 children, sleep at least one night in the municipal shelter system. The number of homeless New Yorker's in shelters has risen by more than half over the past decade. Most of us, myself included will probably look away when a homeless person is around us asking for food or money because we assume that it's their fault that they are in the position that they are in currently but the numbers might tell us another thing. .
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Research shows that the primary cause of homelessness, particularly among families, is lack of affordable housing. The U.S. Bureau of the Census has recorded a steady decline in the number of affordable rental apartments in New York City, at the same time that wages for low-income New Yorker's have stagnated or fallen -- thus creating a widening affordability gap.