NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke during prayer service at St. Patrick's Cathedral and called out friends and family of homeless New Yorkers to join the citywide outreach effort and request help for loved ones.
The expansion of Outreach NYC, the city’s enhanced effort to reach homeless New Yorkers living on the streets was announced Tuesday, to include family members and friends of these unsheltered individuals.
"We are a compassionate City, and New Yorkers look out for one another," said de Blasio. "With Outreach NYC, we are redoubling our efforts to bring our most vulnerable off the streets and into a pathway of lasting stability."
Families and friends of homeless New Yorkers will be able to submit reports for those relatives and friends through 311 which will be directly routed to outreach Coordination Center for triage and coordinated action.
Those who submit reports to 311 and include a keyword to signify a relationship with an individual on the streets such as mother/father, relative or friend and also express an interest in reconnecting with that unsheltered person will be contacted by the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) who will obtain the information necessary to follow up and determine ways to help the clients move towards stability.
If the that unsheltered New Yorker gives outreach teams’ permission for their confidential client case information to be shared with those family members or friends, DHS, will facilitate that reconnection so that the individual may ultimately be helped off the street by that family or friend.