“That would make homelessness one of the greatest threats to your life, more than anything else,” Miller said. “It would make it the most deadly social condition in the city of New Orleans.”
In New York, homeless deaths jumped 30 percent in 2017 compared to 2016
It had been two days since Cara Nurmi was reported missing and there was still no sign of her. BB St. Roman feared the worst
Hickman, who friends say was in his early 50s, was struck and killed the afternoon of June 13 by a Burlington Northern Sante Fe train at St. Louis Street and the Mississippi River.
The leading cause of death among these 44 men and women was drug overdoses and substance abuse, accounting for half of the cases in which the coroner made a final determination.
The average age of death for these 44 people was 47 years old, decades less than the average U.S. life expectancy of 78 years. The oldest person among the homeless deaths was 63, and the youngest 28.
To get a firsthand look at the condition of the Mission shelter and how it operates, staff writer Richard A. Webster and photographer Ted Jackson spent the night from 4:30 p.m. Sept. 17 to 9 a.m. Sept. 18. This story documents their experience.
They are known on the streets as K9 and Dr. Love. One is a solitary figure who dresses like a pirate king and pushes a shopping cart overflowing with treasures through Treme. The other is a gregarious and outrageous soul who calls himself the “Mayor of Jackson Square.”
"There was a fire before, people have been dying here before, the Fire Department has been here before, the ambulances have been here before, the cops have been here before," Riverbottom said. "This is what has to happen."
Manis sat in his tiny first-floor room and pointed to the swarms of German cockroaches that covered every surface. The smell of mold was suffocating. He said he hesitated to go public with his concerns, scared that he would be evicted, but it's gotten so bad that he is afraid for the safety of his family.
