Homeless man freezes to death in tent
Homework - Chris lee
A Honduran immigrant apparently froze to death inside a tent in Huntington Station at a makeshift encampment in the woods.
The man was discovered on a mattress inside the shelter early Sunday after spending the night in frigid temperatures, according to the friends.
One man shared the tent with the victim that night said he woke up Sunday morning and was shocked to see him motionless.
Suffolk police didn't release information on the death Monday, but friends identified the victim as Santo Maldonado.
Woods where the men were living are just east of the Manor Field public park and south of the Long Island Rail Road tracks.
Some immigrants said a van operated by a coalition of church volunteers pulls up near the site at 5:30 p.m. during the winter to take homeless people to emergency shelters, although anyone who has been drinking is not allowed to go.
Maldonado did not get on the van because he was drinking or because he arrived after the van departed.
Nadia Marin-Molina of the Hempstead-based Workplace Project said it was not unheard of for immigrant day laborers and others to be living in woods on Long Island, although estimating the numbers is difficult.
She said some live there because of drug or alcohol problems, while others don't have the money to pay rent. Government crackdowns on overcrowded housing without providing alternative affordable places to live also contributes to the problem, she said.
Roland Hampson, a spokesman for the Suffolk County Department of Social Services, said he believed the county has enough capacity to take in homeless people. It has a total of 1,300 spots and is housing only 1,100 people. "Nobody should be on the streets when it's this cold," he said.
A Honduran immigrant apparently froze to death inside a tent in Huntington Station at a makeshift encampment in the woods.
The man was discovered on a mattress inside the shelter early Sunday after spending the night in frigid temperatures, according to the friends.
One man shared the tent with the victim that night said he woke up Sunday morning and was shocked to see him motionless.
Suffolk police didn't release information on the death Monday, but friends identified the victim as Santo Maldonado.
Woods where the men were living are just east of the Manor Field public park and south of the Long Island Rail Road tracks.
Some immigrants said a van operated by a coalition of church volunteers pulls up near the site at 5:30 p.m. during the winter to take homeless people to emergency shelters, although anyone who has been drinking is not allowed to go.
Maldonado did not get on the van because he was drinking or because he arrived after the van departed.
Nadia Marin-Molina of the Hempstead-based Workplace Project said it was not unheard of for immigrant day laborers and others to be living in woods on Long Island, although estimating the numbers is difficult.
She said some live there because of drug or alcohol problems, while others don't have the money to pay rent. Government crackdowns on overcrowded housing without providing alternative affordable places to live also contributes to the problem, she said.
Roland Hampson, a spokesman for the Suffolk County Department of Social Services, said he believed the county has enough capacity to take in homeless people. It has a total of 1,300 spots and is housing only 1,100 people. "Nobody should be on the streets when it's this cold," he said.
posted by the blog at 6:04 AM
1 Comments:
This is another cheerful story from the class. The most terrible stories are sometimes the most interesting. Someone said that is a reason why countries with high literacy have less violence than countries with low literacy.
Someone said that freezing to death feels like going to sleep. How do they know?
Post a Comment
<< Home