PREGNANT AND HOMELESS IN NYC

     That was the writing on the sign by a couple of quilt wrapped bodies, hopefully alive, surrounded by what appeared to be their worldly belongings. In Penn Station itself there were several homeless men sleeping on the floor in midday, smack in the middle of a busy Sunday afternoon. The pregnant couple were on Seventh Avenue on the other side of a construction barricade.
     I wondered to myself if we were starting this routine all over again as it had been in the 70's and 80's when one could not walk almost anywhere in the five boros and not see a homeless person or several, just hanging out or pushing wagons loaded with more bags and bundles than one could imagine possible. In fact, we passed a couple doing just that on their way to who knows where.
     I am not naïve nor dumb and I know that there are homeless around and I know that unfortunately the number is growing apace and there was just an article about the epidemic in San Francisco and the banding together of the varied media to fight this plague, demand and get some programs going, but I wonder if this will really help, these limited spot on programs.
     The question is why? Why are there homeless, not by choice but by unfortunate circumstances, today, here in the USA? I am not talking of those who fall into the grip of addictions and lose everything or of those who roam by choice for some quirk of their own. No, I am talking of those who fall thru the safety net, who have run afoul of the state and federal programs that have become smaller and more red taped than ever. They have lost jobs or even hold jobs though they pay too little to keep an apartment or home, feed the family and everything else we, at least most of us, take for granted.
     So why, instead of sending money to starving kids in Africa or Asia as the ads ask, why are we not taking care of our own children here in the USA? Why are we not demanding that true programs and safeguards be set up. It is wonderful that poorer areas of the cities are being reclaimed, gentrified, but not at the expense of those living there already who are priced out, lose their jobs, their homes all to make way for the wealthier members of society. Why should we see a sign pregnant and homeless in NYC? Granted, one might think or wonder why she got pregnant in a situation like this for after all, did we not space our children, wait to have them till we were in proper circumstances? Yes, we struggled and yes, the kids today are struggling - in the same way that the homeless are, though not on that level, thank G-d.
     But perhaps this person was pregnant before she became homeless? Or perhaps she went to a Planned Parenthood clinic for aid in preventing conception  or to the nearby free clinic but they were closed due to crazy demands, unthinking demands and shouts of people crazed over the right of choice? See, before we judge, we need to examine and check the story behind those quilt wrapped homeless expectant people. We need to ask why we cannot help that single mother forced out of her home and  trying to keep body and soul together, not only hers but also those of her two kids.
    So before we choose in the elections, on any level, perhaps we need to ask what will they do not for the fatcats, not for those who have overseas accounts, not for those who have 6 homes and five cars. Not for those who downsize and outsource and are happy when the bottom line of the company improves - over the firings of thousands. We need people who have ideas and have the guts and ways and means to do this. We need good ideas but also good ideas as to how to achieve them. We need honesty so Trump, where the hell are your tax forms? Bernie Sanders, where the hell are your realistic plans to achieve all that you put forth? And Hillary Clinton, do you agree with some of these ideas and will you see to their implementation? I believe that of the three, the only safe one is Clinton, though it seems that lately in national elections all we have been doing is choosing the lesser of two evils. Sad state.
     (By the way, I will put on the last part of today's earlier posting sometime tomorrow. Interesting, is it not?)
     In any case, people, we need to ask hard questions and to demand answers that make sense and that are realistic, practical and necessary. No more spending on nonsense, not in the local area such as CVWPB as has been done and still continues, not in the county or state and not in the federal government. Spend, yes, but properly and to help those who need help and set up the situation that help will improve the condition and even eliminate it rather than bandaid it. We need the best minds that our country has to offer. We need to use the earnestness and gung ho attitude of the young and the wisdom of the experienced, but not their ennui or sarcasm, their weariness. We need to have a Sputnik program as we did in the  60's and zoom somewhere quickly and steadily. Pregnant and homeless in NYC? Please, is it not time that we eliminate this issue? Properly and permanently, lending hands and ladders up rather than simply handouts and tsk tsks? There but for the grace of G-d people, there but for the grace.
     Interesting note that on Tuesday the NY Times has an editorial about homelessness and how something must be done about it. It mentions how programs are being CUT rather than enhanced in a positive and constructive manner. What to do? Who the hell knows, but we cannot just shake our heads and walk away - or can we, will we?