On Monday, The New
York Times published a keenly-observant,
compassionate story about the people who use the city’s homeless shelter of
last resort – the subways.
On Wednesday, reporter Annie Correal wrote about how
she and photographer Benjamin Norman covered the story. Her account includes one anecdote I wish had
made it into the main story:
Monique Rink, 41, spoke of her five children scattered
in foster homes. “Tell them, ‘I love you very much and I look forward to a time
when we can be together again in this beautiful country that is America,’” she
said. “I feel like my rights have been taken away from me through no negligence
of my own — just because I didn’t have a home.”
By the way, multiple
studies have found that 30 percent of America’s foster children could be
home right now if their parents just had decent housing.
