It really is hard to get anything done while COVID-19 is about.
I am interested in homelessness issues for those who are formerly incarcerated. I was homeless once. Fortunately, I did not have to live on the street, but it was certainly not home sweet home. I was getting divorced at the time – nasty stuff! Maybe I will write about this some other time. Read my book in the meantime. It is in there.
Joanne Page, President and CEO of The Fortune Society in NYC, wrote an article for the NY Daily News titled “People with Arrest Records Have Housing Rights, Too.” She said that once the applicant’s criminal history shows up, it is GAME OVER.
Winter is an especially bad time of year to be without a place to live as anytime is. When released from prison, there is nothing for the individual except a maze of homeless shelters with almost no support or services. Landlords check the backgrounds of entire families, so if one person has a criminal history, it is GAME OVER for all of them.
So, The Fortune Society is urging the NYC Council to pass the Fair Chance Housing bill, Intro 2047, which is similar to laws passed in a dozen localities across the country. It also mirrors guidance from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, which directs landlords to consider other factors, including rehabilitation.
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David Geiger is a licensed and awarded electrical engineer who spent 7 years in psychiatric hospitals and over 40 years since 1979 in the courts as a result of his schizophrenia.