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table neighborhoods are the backbone of every community. But in places like New York state, where housing costs continue to rise dramatically, housing stability is threatened for far too many, particularly families and individuals who rely on public assistance. On any given day, more than 92,000 New Yorkers are homeless. The gross inadequacy of housing subsidies is a critical factor in the rise of homelessness and housing instability. Long don Island is home to FRiedMan about 1,800 homeless households staying in shelters, while another 3,200 or so families and individuals struggle to get by on public assistance allowances that cover only 40 percent to twothirds of their monthly rents. These households are on the brink of becoming homeless, and most will find themselves facing eviction, having to double up with family or friends, or living in shelters or places not fit for human habitation. This crisis is manifest throughout our
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state, where, for example, more than 150,000 children experience homelessness over the course of the school year. Many of the more than 80,000 public-assistance households that struggle to pay their rents every month will constitute the next wave of families and individuals to lose their housing. These families will need to find shelters, hotels, tents, abandoned buildings, cars or sofas where they can spend a night, a week, a month, a lifetime after literally losing the roofs over their heads. We have learned a great deal about the impact of housing instability and homelessness on individuals and families. Children who experience the intense stress of these hardships don’t do as well in school, and are more likely to have behavioral issues; adults are less likely to secure jobs and keep them, and more prone to mental and physical health problems; and families are often less able to succeed as cohesive units. But it doesn’t need to be this way. There is a solution in the form of legislation that has been pending in Albany for the past few years called Home Stability Support. HSS is a common-sense remedy
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to the homelessness crisis that is supported by 129 members of the State Assembly, 37 state senators, more than 100 faith leaders, including the New York State Council of Churches and the New York State Catholic Conference, as well as dozens of local officials and scores of human services agencies and other advocates. The design is simple: HSS would bridge the divide between public-assistance housing allowances and reasonable rents in order to enable homeless and at-risk New Yorkers to leave or avoid the impermanent shelter system and secure stable housing of their own. Critics of the bill point out that the state had no resources for a program like HSS even before the coronavirus pandemic. But with homelessness in the state at record levels, shelters are overcrowded, and it costs taxpayers billions of dollars each year to leave this problem unsolved. HSS would not only help our homeless neighbors and those at risk of becoming homeless to become stably housed, it would also contribute to neighborhood stability and benefit taxpayers by preventing evictions, helping those
ousing instability turns the lives of children and adults upside down.
fleeing unsafe homes and reducing the use of costly shelters. Moreover, the pandemic has exposed longstanding systemic inequities: wealthy families have been weathering the crisis away from dense metropolitan areas, while low-income workers have lost their livelihoods or continue to be exposed to the virus. While some have been able to work from home, others have neither a computer nor access to the internet. For the rich, the pandemic presents investment opportunities never seen before, but for the poor, it means the total depletion of their savings. Now that New York state is slowly coming back to life after the lockdown, it is critical that Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders recognize the need to end the vicious cycle of homelessness for families. Almost everyone in the Legislature agrees that Home Stability Support would be the immediate solution to our statewide, cyclical homelessness crisis. Now it’s now time for Cuomo to ensure that the post-pandemic comeback isn’t built on the backs of low-income communities. Don Friedman is a former managing attorney of the Long Island office of the Empire Justice Center, a statewide legal services and advocacy organization for low-income New Yorkers.
My own silver lining is in the mirror
on’t go changing to try and please me . . . Don’t change the color of your hair.” —Billy Joel
Why would women stretch out on their backs with their hair floating behind them in vats of lye? Apparently, in the 1600s that was the price of beauty for fashionable women in Venice. It was what one did on the Rialto to bleach one’s hair into “golden” locks. I mention this because my husband and I recently had “the talk.” There are lots of pandemic-fueled talks going on now Randi in America, and while this one kReiSS started in a jokey kind of way, with a slow burn, it quickly ignited. The accelerant was oldschool ageism. I realized we were talking about identity. I asked him if he liked my hair, which has been growing in gray since I decided not to risk Covid-19 by going to a hair salon. (As businesses open, I realize this
is now my personal choice.) Yes, it is a loaded question from spouse A to spouse B. Of course, just by asking, I’m making his opinion of my appearance important. And it is. As an older, pretty traditional couple, that has been the way we roll. We tell each other if a sweater looks too worn or pants are too tight. We accept opinions on new shoes or eyeglasses. We have an actual agreement that we don’t say anything negative about each other’s appearance before we go out for the evening, but upon returning, we are allowed to say, “Burn that shirt.” When I asked about my going gray, he said, “I like your hair dark.” Well, I liked it better when my hair was dark, too, but it can’t get dark unless I go to a salon, or color it at home, which is a project I am not taking on. Besides, why should I? Why was I hitched to a wagon that dragged me to a salon every eight weeks for a “touch-up”? When I said I didn’t plan to change my hair, he said, “Well, OK, but I like it better the other way.” “Well, OK,” I said, “I liked it better when you had wavy black curls and rip-
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pling muscles in your arms.” The double standard suddenly popped out in high relief. Why is it OK for him to have gray hair and not think that it diminishes him in any way, and I have to dye my hair in order to “improve” my appearance when I start to show signs of aging? If the pandemic had not struck, confining us to home base and prohibiting socializing, I probably would have continued to color my hair indefinitely. But now? I’m done. Every eight weeks I’ll go to the theater instead, for the same money, should the theaters ever open again. Meanwhile, stuck in the house, I’m getting comfortable with the me in me. I’ve outgrown that woman with highlighted hair and ritualized applications of makeup. While we’re at it, let’s burn the bra. I see my husband’s eyes scan my upper torso and I know what he’s thinking. I go for it: “I’ve decided not to wear a bra anymore.” “I noticed,” he says. “Don’t you think your clothes look better when you wear a bra?” “My clothes would look better on a mannequin with Barbie Doll measure-
probably would have continued to color my hair indefinitely. But now? I’m done.
ments,” I say, “but I am an imperfect human woman, and bras are uncomfortable, and I don’t want to be pinched and wired into place anymore.” I mean, why don’t fat guys wear Spanx? I know some men color their hair, but most don’t, whereas some 70 percent of American women color theirs. The selfimprovement industry comprising hair coloring, makeup and dieting has been largely aimed at women. We have been all too willing to believe that we aren’t thin enough or pretty enough or sexy enough in our own skins. Especially as we get older, it’s big business to convince women to cover the evidence of aging by dyeing hair, applying more makeup and submitting to surgeries. This is a very old story, but it has been made new again by the coronavirus, which reminds us what is important in our lives. In the age of masks, it is unmasking us. When your partner asks what you think of her going without makeup, a bra or hair color, or he asks if he can forgo the haircut, there are only eight acceptable words to utter: “I love you just the way you are.” Copyright 2020 Randi Kreiss. Randi can be reached at randik3@aol.com.
HERALD COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS — June 11, 2020
Include Home Stability Support in the recovery phase
