Hope for the Future Ministries - Supporting the homeless in Manhattan & Long Island, New York

SUPPORTING THE HOMELESS IN NEW YORK & LONG ISLAND

Hope for the Future Ministries helps the homeless with food, blankets, sleeping bags, toiletries, a listening ear and prayer.

Being homeless causes many difficulties including, hunger cold, inability to get a job, bad health.

See below to find out what homeless really means.

What does homeless mean?
We all think we know that homeless means sleeping on a park bench. Did you know:

Sleeping overnight on a park bench in Manhattan is illegal.
Even if a friend lets you sleep on his sofa, you still don't have a home, so you are homeless.
If you live in a squat, you still can't call this your home as you don't know how long you can stay there. What about electricity or running water?
Many homeless people are wanting to work and get a home to rent. However with no home nobody wants to employ them. With no job nobody wants to rent them a home.
Many people think that all homeless people are alcoholics or drug addicts. This is not true. Yes some homeless people are living on the street because of addiction, but for many it is caused by external factors, like loss of job or depression.
The average age of a homeless person is 9 years!!!!

To be homeless means you do not have a home that you can call your own. Hope for the Future Ministries supports people who are homeless in many ways: Homeless person lives in a box

Pantry bags and hot meals up to three times a week.
Blankets. It may come as a surprise, but standard blankets that are used in homes are often not suitable for use by homeless people. Blankets used by homeless people must be fire proof and lightweight (if you have to carry your bedding with you, the last thing you want is a lot of weight). Hope for the Future supplies approved blankets to the homeless, costing $10 each, even when purchased in bulk.
Warm clothing. When you are living on the streets in winter, staying warm becomes a fight. The first step is getting warm clothes. A lot of layers of thin clothes is actually warmer than one thick coat. Hope for the Future Ministries supplies suitable warm clothing to those who are homeless.
Toiletries. Having no home does not mean that people want to be dirty. Hope for the Future Ministries supplies basic toiletries to homeless people to allow them to stay clean and tidy.
Referrals. For the homeless who do have problems with addiction, or are in need of other forms of counselling, Hope for the Future Ministries is able to refer them to organisations that can offer help to them.
A church they can feel part of. Most homeless people feel outside of society, but can feel at home going to church with people in a similar situation to them, so like the senior citizens regularly attend the Church Without Walls.