COLUMNS

studies have reported that approximately one-third of homeless people have serious mental illness. Additionally, in 2017, the National Coalition for the Homeless has found that 38 percent of homeless people are alcohol dependent, and 26 percent are dependent on other harmful chemicals.

Statistics such as those are disquieting. The dichotomy of being the financial capital of the world yet sometimes having to climb over multitudes of homeless living on cardboard boxes on NYC streets is almost too much to comprehend. It should be a finding that stirs the hearts of men and women and emboldens them to action.

My fervent hope is that New York City will look at this issue of homelessness and the underlying conditions that potentiate it. In studying it, I believe answers will present themselves. The answers should be inclusive of all the human conditions that contribute to the lack of a home for so many. Better funding and education would certainly be a good start. The goal should be visibility for the seemingly invisible soul that I saw on my fateful morning trip in NYC.

by Vincent Carey, East Meadow