New anti-homeless efforts
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New anti-homeless efforts
Catherine Lucey
Mayor Nutter this morning announced a series of new initiatives to fight homelessness in Philadelphia."We have to build this city," he told the crowd assembled in Dilworth Plaza for the announcement. "We have souls and lives to save."
Nutter said the city will create 75 new beds for chronically homeless people with behavioral or substance abuse problems. Two overnight cafes -- drop in centers that provide food and help during the winter -- will be operated throughout the summer. And the Philadelphia Housing Authority will make 500 existing housing units available specifically for people who are in transitional housing and need permanent homes.
Nutter said that, as of last week, 389 people were sleeping on the streets in Philadelphia. And roughly 6,600 were in emergency or transitional housing.
"This is a first step," Nutter said of the day's announcement. "We're here today collectively to say first and foremost we can do better."
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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