In addition to working with numerous social service organizations to address issues which affect the district, the FCBID offers street outreach services to homeless and other affected individuals on district streets through a contract with the Partnership for the Homeless. Clients are offered access to drop-in centers, health care, substance abuse services, social services, and the emergency shelter system.

Homeless Outreach Contract
In July, the FCBID renegotiated the homeless outreach contract that it has had for eight years with the Partnership for the Homeless. Under the new contract, the FCBID is covered by an outreach worker whenever the primary social worker is absent or on vacation. The primary social worker is also part of a team of professionals who possess expertise in different areas and who work cooperatively to provide the most effective support or treatment for those individuals who agree to accept services.

Paul McDonald, the Partnership for the Homeless outreach worker who had been assigned to the FCBID area for the past 8 years, left the Partnership in 2004. Temporary workers were assigned to his position for the first six months of the fiscal year until David Baker, a permanent replacement, was appointed in January 2005.

$10,000 to S2Hi
The FCBID established a working relationship with the Street to Home Initiative (S2Hi) and, in July, made a $10,000 contribution to this organization that provides permanent housing with supportive services for the homeless.

Homeless Counts
From 10:00 p.m. on September 13 until 4:00 a.m. the following morning, the second annual summer count of homeless on the streets was conducted in Midtown. The FCBID’s William Daly acted as team leader for the group that surveyed the Fashion District, where 26 individuals were counted. This number was more than double that of previous counts in both winter and summer. The increase was attributed to the removal of the homeless from Penn Station prior to the Republican Convention. On March 7, the FCBID participated in another count where the more usual number of 10 individuals were found in the BID area.

Face of Homelessness
An analysis of statistics compiled by the FCBID outreach worker indicates that the average homeless person in the district is a male between the ages of 37 and 45 who has been homeless for an average of 21⁄2 years. Of the 48 clients who accepted services last year, 10 were homeless for four months or less, 13 had been on the streets for 1-3 years, and the rest were homeless for up to five years or more.

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