A Shelter Is Not a Home...Or Is It? Lessons from Family Homelessness in New York City

Have shelters become permanent fixtures on the poverty landscape? By exploring the evolution of New York City’s shelter system over a twenty-three year period, this work suggests that shelters have perhaps become a surrogate for traditional low-income housing. It explores various policy initiatives implemented by four city administrations, explains how congregate shelters, welfare hotels, and transitional housing grew, and looks at why, despite all efforts, the problem has only been exacerbated. Ultimately, this book brings us up to date with the NYC shelter system as it is today. Within that context, it identifies unique opportunities to understand the causes of family homelessness and poverty itself. By harnessing the power to foster change within shelters themselves, it offers a blueprint to successfully move families from homelessness to permanent independent living.