Reports and rumors about a program in New York has some people wondering if hundreds of homeless people are being bused into Dallas.
It started with headlines that said New York paid homeless people to get out of the city.
Stanley Gilbert is doing the work to make a difference… but says resources don't always add up.
"We haven't grown more beds. We haven't grown more facilities. And yet every year we bring in more people," said Gilbert, who oversees outreach at OurCalling.
According to the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance, some 4,500 people are homeless in Dallas and Collin counties at any given point in time.
So, the thought of hundreds more coming into the metroplex had people asking questions.
"When you don't delve into the depth of it and you just look at the topline information, it seems like 'oh my God thousands of people are being sent to Texas,'" said David Gruber, Development and Communications Director of the Alliance.
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So, what is really happening? Yes, New York City has a one-time assistance program which helps with relocation and living expenses. It's called SOTA, or Special One-time Assistance. And yes, since the program began in 2017, families have relocated. However, homeless people have not been bused to Dallas in droves.
Instead, most families reportedly moved to New Jersey. The others dispersed throughout the country. As for the homeless we do see in Dallas, Gruber says majority of them are from the area, not New York.
"These folks are from here. 85 percent of them are from here," he said.
While he sets the record straight about New York, he takes the opportunity to also advocate for homeless people here in the metroplex.
"Now we get to think about 'ok what is going on?," said Gruber. "Well, what is going on is we have over 4,500 people at any given time that are homeless in Dallas, and we have to ask ourselves is that acceptable?"
Gilbert says it's not.
"Every person out there is somebody's brother, somebody's father, somebody's sister," said Gilbert. "And these are our brothers and sisters, and these are our citizens."
