Mayor Bloomberg: It's Time to Step Up for Homeless Kids!
- van: The Door
- ontvanger: Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Right now, there are nearly 4,000 youth who are homeless and alone in New York City. Many teens become homeless after fleeing abusive families or getting kicked out of their homes. Sadly, lack of funding for support services means that they often have nowhere to turn.
Yet unbelievably, the Mayor has directed the City's service agencies to reduce their budgets by over 5% on top of initial cuts.
We fought for months to get just some of those cuts back. Now, the city has done a bait and switch, looking to get the deeper cuts they wanted through an administrative procedure out of public view.
What should we tell young people when they show up for help? That the city no longer cares about giving them a meaningful alternative to the street? Need is increasing. New York City needs better funded support services for homeless youth.
Tell Mayor Bloomberg it’s unacceptable to balance budgets on the backs of vulnerable youth and ask him to halt funding cuts for homeless youth programs.
Dear Mayor Bloomberg,
Right now, there are nearly 4,000 youth who are homeless and alone in New York City, yet you just directed the City's service agencies to cut funds in this year's budget by more than 5%.
By putting kids on the street, and squeezing services that provide them alternatives, you are exposing them to incredible danger and instability. They are at increased risk for physical and sexual assault. Many homeless youth are forced to resort to prostitution in order to survive.
[Your comments here.]
In this city of plenty, there is absolutely no reason why a child should have to sleep on the street or go without needed services. Please, stop the funding cuts for homeless youth programs!
Sincerely,
[Your name here.]
