Homelessness on Long Island (blog #5)

I actually found this article from February 1st, 2014. I thought it was something worth reading to help with our charitable fundraiser.

Here's the link to the article:

http://www.longislandpress.com/2014/02/01/homeless-more-people-live-on-the-streets-amid-arctic-blasts-than-stats-show/

     The Hicksville train station waiting room has been named a home for six members of Long Island's homeless population. Together, the six mourned the loss of a friend, all sharing a bottle of vodka. The friend, "Mineola Tommy," a Korean War veteran, was "froze to death" by the arctic Long Island winter. Out of the remaining six, five of them are male and only one is a female. The men protect the female like bees to their Queen. Ironically, the 41 year old woman has been nicknamed "Queen Maria." Maria is under the heavy watch of her friends so she isn't raped for a third time.
      The main question is, how did these people get here? All of them were heavily involved with either drugs or alcohol, leaving them broke and no where to go. This runs into the large drug ad alcohol issue on Long Island, Long Island has one of the largest homeless population in the nation and this can be attributed to the widespread usage of drugs and alcohol. Unfortunately, the homeless population continues to increase year after year. Recently, the homeless population sky-rocketed up 18 percent from 2008. Again, I attribute this increase to the increase is drug usage, but this can also be linked to the recession of 2008.
     

       I wish we could help all of the homeless people on Long Island, but unfortunately, many don't want help. Shelters are there for a reason, yet a good percentage of the homeless population refuses to utilize them. What can we do to help? Well, the only thing we really can do is donate to a local shelter. Since homelessness is most prominent on Long Island, I believe we should base our charitable fundraiser on the needs of our fellow Long Islanders. Maybe becoming involved in a food drive or clothing drive to help those in need might be suitable to fulfill the desire of helping others within our community. After reading this article, I know that we must do something to help these people.