Several years ago, Lowell Hodge bought the violin pictured above from a Rescue Mission thrift store, he said.
Hodge has struggled with housing in recent years, he said. He has taken up playing the violin on Erie Boulevard East for spare change from drivers.
On a recent day, in between playing his violin, Hodge held up a sign that read “Spare cheese? For a broke cracker.”
Homelessness in Syracuse has risen during the pandemic. From 2022 to 2023, homelessness rose 30%, according to CNY Vitals, a resource run by the Central New York Community Foundation.
Rents for housing have steadily risen, too. A recent report by the New York Times, based on a Zumper study, found the cost to rent a one-bedroom apartment in Syracuse had risen 22% in the last year, the biggest increase in the country.
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