Newsfeed Category: Member News

News Media Highlights Sister Tesa, Hour Children

Mar.14.2014

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, two stories were published this week on Sister Tesa Fitzgerald, the celebrated Irish American and executive director of a Queens-based supportive housing provider.

The pieces, which ran in the Wall Street Journal and Irish Central, highlight the recent opening of Hour Apartment House II, a supportive housing residence that opened late last year. The residence offers housing and services to formerly incarcerated women and their children.

The Wall Street Journal piece highlights the warm, inviting atmosphere created by Hour Children, the nonprofit that developed the residence. “I never thought I would live somewhere so beautiful,” says one of the tenants. “When you out there on the street, you don't think someone like Sister Tesa could love a total stranger. I'm glad she loves me,” says another. It’s a moving account of how supportive housing can transform the lives of some of New York’s most underserved individuals and families (please note that this article may be behind a pay wall).

Supportive Housing Providers Reduce Veteran Homelessness in New York

Nov.11.2013

(left to right) Jericho Project's Kingsbridge Terrace, a supportive housing residence for veterans in the Bronx; a tenant at The Knickerbocker, a transitional residence for vets from Services for the UnderServed (SUS); and the crowd outside the grand opening of the Richard J. Conners Veterans Home, a supportive housing residence from Albany Housing Coalition. Tenant photo courtesy of SUS.

On this Veterans Day, we wish to discuss the national tragedy of veteran homelessness.

In an era of fierce partisanship in Washington, D.C., ending homelessness among veterans remains one of the few issues both Democrats and Republicans can support. The Obama administration hopes to end veteran homelessness for good by the end of 2015. The administration, and the country, has a long way to go: According to the most recent estimates, nearly 63,000 homeless individuals identify as veterans in the United States. More than 6,000 of these men and women live in New York State.

New York nonprofits have taken a vigorous approach to lowering these numbers. Our state saw a 14% decrease in veteran homelessness from 2011 to 2012. We can attribute much of this drop to increased funding for Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) vouchers and the work of our more than 220 supportive housing providers in New York.

Jericho Project offers a great example of how supportive housing nonprofits have helped end homelessness among veterans. An innovator in this field, Jericho launched a program last month to provide services to vets at risk of long-term homelessness.

This new program enables Jericho, for the first time, to provide homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing services to at-risk veterans and their families. Jericho offers assistance through case management, help with increasing income and direct cash assistance. The organization aims to serve 225 veterans this year. This new program is just one component of Jericho’s larger Veterans Initiative, which includes two supportive housing residences for vets.

“Jericho Project launched its Veterans Initiative in 2006 to address the specific needs of homeless veterans, with the recognition that veterans often do better when they are part of a supportive community of other veterans,” said Jericho Project Executive Director Tori Lyon. “Our goal is to help chronically homeless veterans heal and thrive while also preventing another generation of veterans falling into homelessness.”

CAMBA Holds Ribbon Cutting for 97 Crooke Ave.

Oct.11.2013

A capacity crowd gathered yesterday to celebrate the grand opening of CAMBA’s newest supportive housing residence. 

97 Crooke Avenue, also known as the Reverend Dan Ramm Residence, brings 53 units of supportive and low-income housing to the Brooklyn neighborhood of Flatbush. This $15.3 million development now houses a mix of formerly homeless adults who suffer from mental illness and low-income individuals from the community.

Yesterday’s festivities were distinctive and unique in several ways. Before entering the nine-story residence, attendees noshed on high-quality, organic donuts from a food truck parked just outside the residence.

Once inside, the roughly 100 guests heard the story of 97 Crooke Ave., a residence that brought many disparate partners together in the name of providing housing and support services to formerly homeless and low-income New Yorkers. 

Joanne Oplustil, CAMBA President/CEO and a Network Board Member, introduced each of the day’s guest speakers. NYS Rep. Rhoda Jacobs was the first to take the podium to congratulate and praise CAMBA.

“We know that decent, affordable housing is less costly to society than shelters, and yet we struggle for resources,” said Rep. Jacobs. “Fortunately, we have a warrior in Joanne.”

Ground Broken on Second MRT Supportive Housing Project

Oct.10.2013

Common Ground held a ground-breaking ceremony yesterday for the second NYC supportive housing residence to begin construction using NYS Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT) capital funding.

The project, Boston Road, will bring 154 units of supportive housing to the Bronx. The residence will provide housing and services to a mix of low-income and formerly homeless individuals and seniors.

Dozens of friends and partners gathered on Wednesday to celebrate the start of construction. The event included a number of illustrious guest speakers, including NYS Homes & Community Renewal (HCR) Commissioner Darryl Towns, former NYC Council Member Helen Foster and NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Deputy Commissioner Eric Enderlin. Common Ground Executive Director Brenda Rosen served as the master of ceremonies for the late-morning event. 

“This is a creative approach to dealing with an epidemic [of homelessness],” Ms. Foster said.  “Let this be an example of what we do going forth in the city.” 

New Coalition Releases “A Roadmap to Ending Homelessness”

Oct.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.

Grand Opening Held for Vyse Ave.

Oct.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. 

Sequestration Strikes HSI: An Interview with Jim Dill

Sep.26.2013

Over the past few months, the Network has fought to highlight the often-ignored effects of budget sequestration on low-income individuals and housing programs. In the below interview, we speak with Jim Dill, Executive Director of Housing & Services, Inc. (HSI), a supportive housing provider in New York City. Jim tells us about sequestration and its continued effects on HSI’s supportive housing residences and the vulnerable tenants they house. He speaks in particular about two residences: The Kenmore and The Cecil. To learn more about sequestration’s impact on the poor and formerly homeless, see our Sequestration Stories page.

The Network: Kenmore Hall provides housing and services to 325 of New York’s most vulnerable citizens. How has sequestration impacted the well-being of the residence and its tenants? 

Jim Dill: The Kenmore currently has seven vacant apartments attributable to sequestration. The sequester has led to a freeze on new tenant-based Section 8 vouchers. We are scrambling now to see if we can fill these empty units with another referral source. This is proving quite difficult, because tenants at Kenmore must meet HUD’s criteria for homelessness and have a rent subsidy. In the meantime, seven perfectly good apartments at the Kenmore remain vacant. Housing and services at this residence costs roughly $14,000 per year. That’s cheaper than any of the alternatives for New York’s most vulnerable: shelters, jails, hospitals, rehab, etc. It costs about $28,000 a year, for example, to house a single adult in a DHS shelter. That’s a $14,000 difference per person. With these seven vacancies, we could save the city at least $98,000 a year. Instead, because of sequestration, the apartments are just sitting there.

Has sequestration jeopardized the building’s day-to-day operations?

Yes. In accordance with our regulatory agreements, our tenants must have very low incomes and their rent is restricted to 30% of whatever they make. In the past, any rent increases would be funded through Section 8. Sequestration has frozen such rent increases.

Mosholu Gardens Opens in the Bronx

Sep.13.2013

Some 50 staff, partners and supporters gathered on the roof of Mosholu Gardens to celebrate the opening of Acacia Network’s first supportive housing residence on September 12. This eight-story new construction overlooks Mosholu Parkway and provides 63 efficiency apartments for a mix of homeless and low-income individuals. 

Ralph Declet, Acacia Network’s Vice President of Economic Development, acted as master of ceremonies for the day’s event. Mr. Declet introduced Acacia Network CEO Raul Russi and Board Chair Milagros Baez O’Toole, both of whom marveled at the beauty of the building and the teamwork that brought it into being. Jessica Katz, Assistant Commissioner for Special Needs Housing at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), thanked NYC Council Member Oliver Koppell and the members of Community Board 7 who supported the project. She also took a moment to point out that, although HPD had been able to make good on its commitments to this project, the department lost $42 million in Section 8 funding this year due to sequestration.

“Next time we might not be so lucky,” she said.

Tax Credit Advisor covers Creston Avenue Residence in the Bronx

Jul.31.2013

Tax Credit Advisor ran a piece on Creston Avenue Residence, a supportive housing residence in development in the Bronx, in its August 2013 issue. The article includes a quote from Network Executive Director Ted Houghton. The magazine has kindly allowed us to post the story here. You'll find the first few paragraphs below. Follow this link to download a PDF of the article. See here to subscribe to Tax Credit Advisor.

Creston Avenue Residence, a new low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) development under construction in the Fordham section of the Bronx, is writing a new chapter in the history of supportive housing.

The infill development is the first permanent supportive housing project funded under a New York initiative designed to reduce the state’s annual expenditures for Medicaid while improving the lives of high-cost and high-need Medicaid recipients. Medicaid is the federal-state program that pays for health care costs for extremely low-income households. The federal government and state government usually share the costs 50/50. In New York, however, the state and localities, such as New York City, split the state’s share.

Barrier Free Living Breaks Ground on First Supportive Housing Residence

Jun.05.2013

Barrier Free Living celebrated the groundbreaking of its first supportive housing residence on June 4. Barrier Free Living Apartments, located in the South Bronx, will soon offer 120 units of supportive housing for domestic violence survivors, female veterans and disabled women in a nursing home diversion program. The project will consist of two buildings: a 51-unit residence on East 138th Street and a 70-unit residence on East 139th Street. The first building will house families and the second individuals.

Last month's groundbreaking for this $42 million project included a slate of guest speakers. Among them were NYC Council Member Maria del Carmen Arroyo, Jessica Katz of the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), Joan Tally of the NYC Housing Development Corporation (HDC), Brett Hebner of the NYS Homeless Housing and Assistance Corporation (HHAC), Benjamin Warnke of Alembic Community Development, Bill Traylor of Richman Housing Resources and representatives from the office of Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr.

Barrier Free Living Apartments is being developed under Mayor Bloomberg's New Housing Marketplace Plan (NHMP).