Janet Miles, Clip 3: NYC Shelter System

Collection: Queens Memory Collection at the Archives at Queens Library: Janet Miles

Date: Time Period: 2009 - 2016; 2016-04-08; Interview recorded: April 8 2016 Material: Digital audio recording made using a digital recorder and Adobe Soundbooth. Dimension: Total running time: 0:04:09

Creator: Janet Miles interviewed by Arbesh Khan and Reshad Hai Identifier: aql:22160 miles-janet-clip3

Description: Janet Miles and her family were living in the Bronx and they had a really bad landlord. They entered the shelter system in 2009. Back then you were moved around shelter to shelter so they were in a couple Bronx shelters, then Brooklyn before ending up in Queens. In the Bronx, they chose not to pay rent because the landlord wasn't fixing anything. They took her to Housing Court but nothing came out of it. If she knew the programs that were out there then that she knows now, they would've taken a different route than coming into a shelter. This site is a city run shelter in comparison to a privately owned shelter. This shelter is not as bad as other places they've been but it's no place to raise children. Tier two shelters are privately owned buildings that are rented out by Homeless Services and those owners get a lot of money to house a family. The Coalition for the Homeless is trying to say that instead of housing families, that money should be used to pay a portion of their rent. The key is for the move out to be permanent so you don't come back to a shelter.

Title : Janet Miles, Clip 3: NYC Shelter System

Collection : aql:20455; aql:22183

Creator : Janet Miles interviewed by Arbesh Khan and Reshad Hai

Date : Time Period: 2009 - 2016; 2016-04-08; Interview recorded: April 8 2016

Summary/Description : Janet Miles and her family were living in the Bronx and they had a really bad landlord. They entered the shelter system in 2009. Back then you were moved around shelter to shelter so they were in a couple Bronx shelters, then Brooklyn before ending up in Queens. In the Bronx, they chose not to pay rent because the landlord wasn't fixing anything. They took her to Housing Court but nothing came out of it. If she knew the programs that were out there then that she knows now, they would've taken a different route than coming into a shelter. This site is a city run shelter in comparison to a privately owned shelter. This shelter is not as bad as other places they've been but it's no place to raise children. Tier two shelters are privately owned buildings that are rented out by Homeless Services and those owners get a lot of money to house a family. The Coalition for the Homeless is trying to say that instead of housing families, that money should be used to pay a portion of their rent. The key is for the move out to be permanent so you don't come back to a shelter.

Subject : Shelters for the homeless

Relation : Queens Memory Collection at the Archives at Queens Library: Janet Miles

Rights : Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.

Coverage : Locations discussed: Bronx, NY; Jamaica, Queens, NY Bronx (New York, N.Y.) Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) Queens (New York, N.Y.)

Type : Oral history

Format : Digital audio recording made using a digital recorder and Adobe Soundbooth.; Total running time: 0:04:09

Identifier : aql:22160 miles-janet-clip3