By Kevin Deutsch
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How do New York City’s homeless survive on the streets? For many, its with the help of the McDonald’s $1 menu.
The Homeless Shelter Directory, a popular resource for people living on the streets – as well as care providers – recently conducted a survey asking the homeless how they survive with little or no money.
“The top answer was by far the $1 menu at McDonald’s,” the survey found.
Local food pantries were the second most popular resource, the web site found.
“The dollar menu for McDonald’s is always a top resource for the homeless to eat a hot meal,” Mike Manning, owner of HomelessShelterDirectory.org, told Bronx Justice News. “There are food pantries and soup kitchens at so many locations across the country, but the problem with most of them them is their sporadic nature. ”
Manning said there are so many McDonald’s that “there is always one around,” regardless of where a homeless person is located.
“And the prices are so cheap all they have to do is ask for a few bucks from some passers by and get themselves a quick hot meal,” Manning said.
In a secondary polling question, the survey found most money the homeless receive for meals comes from people who give them cash.
New York City is experiencing a homelessness crisis, reflecting a nationwide trend in America’s major metropolitan areas.
A survey by Coalition for the Homeless last year found nearly 64,000 homeless people living in city shelters, with the number at 62,391 as of September—the last month for which data from the organization was available.
Many of the homeless are children, experts said.
African-American and Latino New Yorkers are disproportionately affected by homelessness. Approximately 57 percent of heads of household in shelters are African-American, 32 percent are Latino, seven percent are white, less than one percent are Asian-American or Native American, and 3 percent are of an unknown race or ethnicity.