Social Issues
Social problems from poverty, crime to drug addiction have plagued the area for some time. Although crime rates have dropped from the historically epic numbers of the past, East Harlem suffers from Manhattan's highest violent crime rate with 15 murders in 2011.
East Harlem has the highest concentration of shelters and facilities in Manhattan, with 8 homeless shelters, 36 drug and alcohol treatment facilities and 37 mental health treatment facilities. It also has the highest jobless rate in the entire city, as well as the city's second highest cumulative AIDS rate. The Asthma rate is also 5 times larger than national levels. The neighborhood also suffers from a high poverty rate. Union Settlement Association is one of the neighborhood's largest social service agencies, reaching more than 13,000 people annually at 17 locations throughout East Harlem, through a range of programs, including early childhood education, youth development, senior services, job training, the arts, adult education, nutrition, counseling, a farmers' market, community development, and neighborhood cultural events.
Read more about this topic: East Harlem
Famous quotes containing the words social and/or issues:
“... to most mortals there is a stupidity which is unendurable and a stupidity which is altogether acceptable—else, indeed, what would become of social bonds?”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“Your toddler will be “good” if he feels like doing what you happen to want him to do and does not happen to feel like doing anything you would dislike. With a little cleverness you can organize life as a whole, and issues in particular, so that you both want the same thing most of the time.”
—Penelope Leach (20th century)