Showing Posts by Date: 10/2013
10.09.2013
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Dr. Frank R. Lipton is the quintessential unsung hero. A key government partner at the NYC Human Resources Administration (HRA) for almost three decades, he has played an instrumental, behind-the-scenes role in the supportive housing movement. With little fanfare, Dr. Lipton helped to create the program design, referral and data tracking mechanisms that made supportive housing the successful, widely-replicated model it is today. Thanks to his service, thousands of formerly homeless and disabled New Yorkers have a home tonight.
Dr. Lipton has been a constant behind New York’s historic New York/New York supportive housing agreements. He helped guide the design and passage of NY/NY I under Mayor Ed Koch and its ultimate signatory, Mayor David Dinkins. He helped usher in NY/NY II under Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and then in 2005 was at the forefront again for a NY/NY III agreement under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. When all is said and done, the combined NY/NY commitments will have created nearly 15,000 supportive housing apartments – by far the largest supportive housing program in the country.
“Frank was a major mover and shaker in the creation of the first NY/NY Agreement, and he has remained a steadfast friend and advocate of supportive housing tenants and providers for the past 25 years,” says Tony Hannigan, Executive Director of the Center for Urban Community Services (CUCS). “Our community has been truly fortunate to have the quality and dedication of his leadership during four administrations.”
Drawing on his academic and professional background, Dr. Lipton has been a vital source of data on the outcomes associated with supportive housing.
Continue Reading …10.08.2013
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True Colors Residence is quite literally one of a kind: The first – and only – supportive housing residence for homeless and runaway lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) young people AND the first New York supportive housing project associated with a genuine star.
This trailblazing residence is the result of the fortuitous pairing of West End Residences and musical icon (and recent Tony-winner) Cyndi Lauper. Long an LGBT advocate, Ms Lauper helped raise funds for True Colors, which is named after her 1986 song and album.
“The True Colors Residence provides these young people with a real home and the leg up and encouragement that will help them make it in the world,” says Ms Lauper.
To the 30 young adults who live here, the residence is an oasis from life on the street, which can be especially treacherous for LGBT youth – who make up an estimated 40% of all homeless youth in NYC.
“When my family rejected me for being transgender, I remember asking myself, ‘Where am I going to sleep? What am I going to eat?’” says True Colors Residence tenant Trina Carter. “Now, here I am at True Colors Residence, a place to better my life. What else can I ask for?”
Continue Reading … | New York City, Network Events10.07.2013
In May of this year, a diverse representation from the NYC homeless housing community and Continuum of Care traveled to Chicago for a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-sponsored retreat, a.k.a. "boot camp," to brainstorm what our biggest barriers were in housing chronically homeless veterans and other individuals and what we could do in the next 100 days to speed up the process. As a result of these collective efforts, the City is looking toward reducing the very longest time it takes to house a chronically street homeless person by 64%. It's also looking to recapture nearly $10 million in HUD funding.
Facilitated by the Rapid Results Institute and 100,000 Homes, the event included the NYC Departments of Homeless Services (DHS), Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) as well as the Network, Enterprise Community Partners, Homeless Services United, Common Ground, Goddard Riverside Community Center and Samaritan Village. Representatives from these agencies and organizations met for three days in Chicago.
Deciding what to focus on became easy once we cobbled together the following facts:
10.07.2013
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Jason Helgerson became New York State’s Medicaid Director in January 2011. We’ve never looked at Medicaid the same way since. Nowhere is this clearer than in the way the healthcare system now interacts with supportive housing.
Mr. Helgerson arrived to New York from Wisconsin, where he had helped that state save millions through reforms to its BadgerCare Plus program. His reputation – that of a consensus builder who found ways to both cut costs and improve the quality of care – attracted Governor Andrew Cuomo, who tapped Mr. Helgerson to lead the Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT), an initiative to transform New York’s Medicaid program.
The MRT has led to a total reassessment of how our public health system should care for the most vulnerable. Thanks to Mr. Helgerson, supportive housing is now a central part of this effort.
Through his leadership, New York became the first state to invest in housing to lower costs and improve outcomes for chronically ill and disabled people. Presented with research on supportive housing’s capacity to lower healthcare costs, Mr. Helgerson established an MRT Affordable Housing Workgroup to map out strategies to meet the needs of unstably-housed, high-cost Medicaid recipients. He also identified over $75 million in Medicaid savings that would be invested in housing each year.
Continue Reading … | Network Events10.07.2013
United to End Homelessness has released a comprehensive policy book to guide New York City’s next mayor and City Council in the effort to end homelessness.
The book, titled A Roadmap to Ending Homelessness, is available to download here. It expands upon United to End Homelessness’ original policy platform, which the coalition unveiled earlier this year. You can read a New York Daily News op-ed on the release of the policy book here.
“Our hope is that this briefing book provides the next administration with the research, ideas and motivation to develop and start implementing a plan to end homelessness on day one,” says Network Deputy Executive Director Nicole Branca, who served as one of many co-authors on A Roadmap to Ending Homelessness.
United to End Homelessness is a coalition of over 130 homeless advocates, providers, homeless and formerly homeless individuals, faith leaders and other organizations from across New York City. The coalition formed to address the city’s current, record-high levels of homelessness. On any given night in NYC, 57,000 individuals sleep either in shelters or on the street. That number includes a staggering 22,000 children.
Continue Reading … | New York City, Member News10.03.2013
Forty staff, partners and tenants gathered on October 2 for the official grand opening of Vyse Avenue Apartments, the latest Community Access supportive housing residence in the Crotona Park section of the Bronx. The building provides homes to 64 individuals with psychiatric disabilities and a history of homelessness.
The festivities were casual and family-like, with Community Access CEO Steve Coe welcoming the organization’s Board Member Ramesh Shah to the podium. Mr. Shah thanked all the partners who made the residence possible, including the community that welcomed the building – and its tenants – into the neighborhood. Mr. Coe followed up these remarks by noting that Vyse Avenue had been the easiest of the organization’s dozen permanent supportive housing buildings to site.
“We were told to meet with Bronx Desperadoes and it turned out the Executive Director’s mother had been involved with the mental health system, so he couldn’t have been more welcoming,” Mr. Coe said.
Steve then showed a short film that the National Equity Fund (NEF) and TD Bank had made about Vyse Avenue. The video, which you can watch below, features building tenant Katherine Brown.
Continue Reading … | New York City, Member News, Openings10.01.2013
The co-chairs of the Housing First! coalition published an op-ed in today's Gotham Gazette on the need for federal action to spur affordable housing development.
In the piece, Network Executive Director Ted Houghton and Network Board Member Todd Gomez argue that affordable housing programs should have bipartisan appeal in Washington, DC. These programs help drive the economy, create housing for low-income Americans and reduce the amount of money spent on costly public services such as emergency care.
The writers urge Congress to enact three specific measures before the end of this year:
"1) Exempt HUD homeless and housing programs from the sequester and further cuts, 2) Protect LIHTC and tax-exempt bonds in tax reform, and legislate minimum and permanent fixed LIHTC rates, and 3) Provide government guarantees for low-income rental housing in GSE reform, including a dedicated revenue source for the National Housing Trust Fund."
We strongly support the arguments made here by our Executive Director and Board Member. We urge you to read the article and share it with those you know.
| Federal, Press