Network Newsfeed

Round three ESSHI Conditional Awards Announced

Sep.11.2018

Governor Cuomo announced the third round of conditional awards for the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative (ESSHI) yesterday. Awards went to 116 nonprofit agencies, totaling 182 projects across the state. 
The list of providers that received conditional awards is available here. 70% of the awards went to Network members.

These awards will provide service and operating funding for 1200 units of supportive housing. This is the third year of funding in the Governor’s 15 year commitment to develop 20,000 new units of supportive housing.  
Awardees will now be able to take these ESSHI conditional awards to secure capital funding for projects.

For more information on ESSHI, please see the Network’s website.

Congratulations to all of the organizations who were successful in this round!  

NY/NY 1- First City and State Agreement for Supportive Housing

Sep.07.2018

The first New York/New York Agreement was signed in 1990 in response to rising homelessness among people with mental illness and the declining number of SROs (Single Residence Occupancy buildings) in the City. It was the largest housing initiative for homeless mentally ill people in history and, at its peak, had a significant impact on lowering the shelter census. Here are seven of its greatest achievements!

No 1: First multi-year commitment to creating supportive housing

• NY/NY was the first long-term commitment to supportive housing, promising to create thousands of units of housing for homeless mentally ill individuals.

No 2: First collaboration between the City and State to provide housing to mentally ill New Yorkers

• It was the first coordinated effort by the city and state to give mentally ill homeless New Yorkers a place to live and also provide them with the support services they need to stay housed

No 3: NYS Office of Mental Health (OMH) recognized housing as critical to mental health provision

• Prior to the Agreement, the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) had never funded the construction of permanent housing for mentally ill people, nor paid for on-site services to keep mentally ill people in permanent housing. Allocating capital money to build housing reversed years of OMH policy and signaled a historic change in the agency’s mission by acknowledging that the provision of stable, affordable housing was an integral part of mental health treatment.

No 4: Nonprofit providers were funded and relied upon for their expertise

• The agreement funded and relied on local nonprofit developers and providers who were already combining housing with support services to take on this expansion of supportive housing

No 5: Record number of people get supportive housing

• 4,679 homeless people with psychiatric disabilities were placed into service-enriched housing created by the agreements

No 6: More housing led to a decline in the shelter census

• As residences opened their doors during the first five years of the Agreement, the municipal single-adult shelter census steadily declined, falling by more than a third

No 7: Provided information for first peer-reviewed study of the cost impact of supportive housing  

• A study done that tracked those with mental illnesses living in supportive housing found that once placed into service-enriched housing, a homeless mentally ill individual reduces his or her use of publicly funded services by an average of $12,145 per year
• Study also finds that cost of homelessness for this population is more than $40,000

for a full history of the NY/NY Agreement, see A History of the New York/New York Agreement

Times Square, the largest supportive housing building in the nation

Sep.07.2018

Gloria Senger has been living at the Times Square building since 1959 and has seen it go through several transformations before finally becoming supportive housing. Watch her talk about the building and her life since she first got to The Times Square Hotel.

Largest conference of the supportive housing community in the nation

Sep.06.2018

The Network initiated the first ever supportive housing conference in 2000 to gather the supportive housing community with the goal of sharing and learning about the world of supportive housing. Our New York State Supportive Housing Conference is now the largest supportive housing conference in the nation with over 1700 guests who hear from more than a 100 experts, innovators and leaders in the field. The conference is also a celebration of our community’s successes and innovations. Check out the video above for highlights of our guests and speakers over the past 18 years.

The Network is Hiring a Policy Analyst

Aug.24.2018

As a member of the Network’s larger policy team, the Policy Analyst will focus on budget and policy analysis, advocacy, research, and member support.  Complementing the work of other policy team members focused on housing development and finance, this position is largely focused on policy related to social services. This person will be responsible for monitoring legislative, programmatic, and budgetary issues. The position requires someone passionate about housing and homelessness issues who is able to work with nonprofit members, government, NYC communities and elected officials. 

The Policy Analyst position is full-time and will report to the Director of Policy and Planning.  This position works out of the NYC office with frequent travel throughout NYC and requires occasional travel to Albany and Washington D.C.

Download the full job description here!

How to Apply:

To apply, send resume, cover letter, writing sample (500 words or less) and references to jobs@shnny.org. Please include “Policy Analyst” in the subject line of your email. No phone calls, please.

Salary and title are commensurate with experience. The Network is an equal opportunity employer.