Homeless Shelters Are Important
But Equitable Placement is just as important.
Equitable Placement
Instead of resorting to legal action to relocate homeless shelters.
Let's focus on finding comprehensive solutions that involve all communities.
Homeless shelters should not be disproportionately concentrated in specific neighborhoods, and it's crucial for our elected officials to actively engage in discussions to address this issue.
Recently, I joined with Rego Park residents in opposition to yet another homeless shelter in our community. The over-saturation of shelters in this part of Queens in unacceptable. People need real affordable housing not a hotel room in a homeless shelter.
Examining records on homeless shelter distribution reveals an inequitable trend, with lower-income communities bearing a disproportionate burden.
While shelters continue to be placed without adequate advocacy in some communities, our elected representatives must break their silence and work towards fair and balanced placements.
Hiram is committed to ending unfair placement practices. It's time for a collaborative effort where all communities play a role in providing support to homeless families, ensuring a more equitable and compassionate solution
Media Coverage
Queens Gazette: Rally Opposing Homeless Shelter In Corona
On November 1, the East Elmhurst Corona Alliance held a rally protesting the housing of approximately sixty homeless men at the Holiday Inn Express in Corona. It was recently made public that one of the men therein housed was a registered sex offender, who has since been removed.
The Alliance sent a letter to the Intercontinental Hotel (ICH Group) CEO, the parent company of the Holiday Inn Express, calling for a cease of participation in the Hotel To Shelter program, and not continue to shelter homeless men at this location. The Alliance also called for ICH Group to divulge whether or not this location is participating in an FRFP to become a full shelter. Read more here.
CBS: Queens Residents Upset After City Relocates COVID-Positive Homeless Individuals Into Neighborhood Hotel
Some residents in the Queens neighborhoods of East Elmhurst and Corona are upset after the city temporarily relocated homeless individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 into a hotel in the area. The move is apparently part of a larger citywide push to help those who are sick properly isolate. Alfonso Johnson lives across the street from the hotel in a building filled with seniors. “A building that has a 60% senior citizen rate is put across the street from people who are sick and highly contagious,” Johnson told CBS2’s Kiran Dhillon. Read more here.