Newsfeed Category: Network Events

Campaign 4 NY/NY Housing Launches at NYC Hall

Jun.09.2014

The crowd at the launch of Campaign 4 NY/NY Housing on May 28. Photo by Coalition for the Homeless.

The Network joined a crowd of more than 150 advocates on May 28 for the launch of Campaign 4 NY/NY Housing, a grassroots initiative to call on lawmakers to create a new New York/New York Supportive Housing Agreement.

This new coalition is urging Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio to negotiate a City-State agreement to create 30,000 units of supportive housing over the next 10 years. To date, more than 150 organizations have signed on to the campaign’s platform. You can endorse the campaign by following this link. The Network is proud to have helped launch this campaign with such organizations as Coalition for the Homeless, CSH, Enterprise Community Partners and many, many others.

You can learn more about the Campaign 4 NY/NY Housing by reading these press highlights in Capital New York, New York Observer and The Real Deal.

Scott Stringer, Letitia James to Join Network Conference

Jun.03.2014

NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer and NYC Public Advocate Letitia James will deliver remarks at the closing cocktail reception of the 14th Annual New York State Supportive Housing Conference on Thursday, June 5.

We’re thrilled to announce two just-added special guests for the 14th Annual New York State Supportive Housing Conference this Thursday. Joining us to celebrate the day will be NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer and NYC Public Advocate Letitia James. Both elected officials will appear at our conference cocktail reception, which kicks off at 5:00pm after a full day of workshops, on the 9th floor of the New York Marriott Marquis.

Online registration for the conference is now closed, but those interested in attending can still register by fax or email until Wednesday, June 4 at noon. If you haven’t registered yet, we urge you to do so before Wednesday!

NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer is no stranger to our supportive housing conference. During his previous post as Manhattan Borough President and as a member of the NYS Assembly, Mr. Stringer made multiple appearances at our signature annual event. He will deliver brief remarks at the reception this Thursday to cap off the largest supportive housing conference in the nation.

Ms. James, New York City’s Public Advocate, will also speak and mingle at the conference cocktail reception. Ms. James was elected Public Advocate last year after fighting for affordable housing and economic justice in the City Council for 10 years. She will be making her conference debut with us this Thursday.

Network Conference Less Than One Week Away

May.30.2014

Speakers at the 14th Annual New York State Supportive Housing Conference (left to right): NYS Deputy Secretary for Health Courtney Burke, NYS Executive Deputy Director of State Operations Fran Reiter, NYS Deputy Secretary for Human Services and Information Technology Louisa Chafee, NYC Council Member Jumaane D. Williams, NYC Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Alicia Glen, NYC Council Member Stephen Levin and NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Vicki Been.

The largest supportive housing conference ever arrives next week!

If you haven't already, we hope you register today for the 14th Annual New York State Supportive Housing Conference. Join more than 1,400 of your colleagues and friends on Thursday, June 5 for a full day of panels, workshops, guest speakers and much more. Online registration for the event closes Monday, June 2. Highlights include:

Morning Plenary Panel!

The conference features a very special morning plenary panel, with a rare public appearance from three important representatives from the Governor's Office. Joining us will be Executive Deputy Director of State Operations Fran Reiter, Deputy Secretary for Health Courtney Burke and Deputy Secretary for Human Services and Information Technology Louisa Chafee. These three influential State leaders will conduct a wide-ranging discussion on issues related to supportive housing, homelessness, healthcare and other challenges facing our community. We hope you’ll join us for this unique opportunity to hear from three of Governor Cuomo’s top advisors.

Just Added!

We are excited to announce that Alicia Glen, New York City's new Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development, will address the morning session on behalf of Mayor Bill de Blasio. Also joining us will be two New York City Council members: Stephen Levin, Chair of the General Welfare Committee, and Jumaane D. Williams, Chair of the Committee on Housing and Buildings. Vicki Been, the newly-appointed Commissioner of the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), will now also be on hand to discuss Mayor de Blasio's plan to develop or preserve 200,000 new units of affordable housing over the next 10 years.

Nation’s Largest Supportive Housing Conference Arrives June 5

May.09.2014

Attendees of the 2013 New York State Supportive Housing Conference (left to right): Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick, NYS Senator Cecillia Tkaczyk and NYC Council Member Annabel Palma.

Hundreds of you have already registered for the 14th Annual New York State Supportive Housing Conference, our signature annual event here at the Supportive Housing Network of New York. In a little over four weeks, more than 1,200 of our friends and colleagues will gather at the New York Marriott Marquis for a full day of workshops, special guests, networking opportunities and much more. We’ll be offering two dozen workshops this year on a wealth of issues that impact the New York supportive housing community.

We’ll be announcing our full lineup of workshops and presenters in the weeks ahead. For now, we’d like to share with you some highlights you can expect on June 5. This year’s conference will feature:

New York State Leaders

Courtney Burke: Deputy Secretary for Health
Louisa Chafee: Deputy Secretary for Human Services and Information Technology
Jason Helgerson: Medicaid Director
Kristin Proud: Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) Commissioner
Fran Reiter: NYS Executive Deputy Director of State Operations
Darryl Towns: Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) Commissioner

New Members-Only Features Arrive at Shnny.org

May.01.2014

We're excited to announce two major changes to the Members section of our website! The newly-revamped shnny.org now allows users to create individual user accounts and join forums to discuss issues related to supportive housing. You'll find more details about these new features below. To get started, head here to create your new user login.

Personal User Accounts
Our website now allows anyone who works at one of our member organizations to create a personalized user account. Simply follow this link to complete our member registration form. Creating an account grants you access to a host of members-only features. You'll be able to post jobs to our Jobs Board, browse sensitive member resources, ask us questions, request access to our new forums and more. We encourage anyone who works at one of our 300-plus member organizations to take advantage of this new members-only feature.

Network Forums
We've also launched Network Forums, a new series of message boards for our most active members. These forums allow our members to discuss specific issues at length and in privacy. We've kicked off this feature with an initial eight forums, each on a different facet of supportive housing: property management, emergency preparedness, young adult housing and more. To receive access to a forum, you must first complete the member registration form linked above. You must then contact us requesting access to a specific forum. Please note: To maintain trust and privacy, forum access is limited to individuals who have direct experience with the forum's central topic.

We're very excited to offer you these new web features. If you have any questions, or if you'd like to learn more about these upgrades, please don't hesitate to drop us a line!

Friends Gather for Network Annual Meeting

Mar.06.2014

The Network hosted old friends, announced changes to its Board of Directors and unveiled a very special new internship at its annual meeting on February 27.

More than 150 members of our community gathered at Scandinavia House in Manhattan for the event. Our 2014 annual meeting offered our colleagues a chance to reminisce, network and look toward the upcoming year – all over drinks and hors d’oeuvres from Project Renewal’s Comfort Foods.

To browse a slideshow of recently-opened supportive housing residences featured at the meeting, click here. A slideshow of 100 images from the year in supportive housing can be viewed here.

This year’s event marked several changes to the Network’s Board of Directors. The Network said both farewell and congratulations last week to Shola Olatoye, the new Chairwoman of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). Before her appointment into the de Blasio administration, Ms. Olatoye was a Vice President at Enterprise Community Partners and a member of our Board of Directors.

“Shola is just the perfect choice for NYCHA,” Network Executive Director Ted Houghton said at the event. “She knows about development, she knows about vulnerable families, she knows about New York City, she knows about neighborhoods. The mayor is so lucky to have her, and we're lucky to have her.”

Network Advocacy Day Set for March 18

Mar.06.2014

The Network will hold one last, big advocacy push in Albany on March 18 to impact vital supportive housing programs in the New York State budget.

Last month, our members joined Homeless Services United to hold nearly 60 meetings with members of the New York State Assembly, Senate and their staff. We used these meetings to advocate for increased funding for homeless prevention and supportive housing programs in the 2014-15 state fiscal year budget.

Our final advocacy effort on Tuesday, March 18 will offer us a chance to advocate for these issues one last time before the state budget passes on or before April 1. We encourage all of you to attend. To RSVP, please contact the Network’s Maclain Berhaupt at mberhaupt@shnny.org.

This year, we’ve focused our advocacy efforts on four specifics areas. First, we hope to achieve an increase to the NYS Office of Temporary Disability and Assistance (OTDA)’s Homeless Housing and Prevention services budget, which funds both the NYS Supportive Housing Program (NYSSHP) and Solutions to End Homelessness Programs (STEHP). Second, we hope to save vulnerable State homeless programs threatened by sequestration. To do this, we’ve called on New York State to establish an emergency supplemental pool of funding at OTDA to help mitigate cuts to over 50 programs across the state.

Frank Lipton’s 2013 Gala Address

Oct.31.2013

Frank Lipton has left an indelible mark on the supportive housing community. The recipient of our 2013 Tim O'Hanlon Unsung Hero of the Year Award, Dr. Lipton has served for decades at the NYC Human Resources Administration. He delivered the following speech, one of the widest-ranging and most moving we've heard at our 2013 Awards Gala on October 16. With his permission, we've printed it here in full. For a greater picture of Dr. Lipton's contributions to supportive tenants and providers, see here. Transcript:

This is a wonderful honor. When I received Bill [Traylor]’s email informing me that Network was going to recognize me with Tim O’Hanlon’s Unsung Hero award, I had to read it twice as it was so poetic and inspirational that I couldn’t believe he was really talking about me. I was truly moved and began to go over the path that has landed me here tonight at Capitale, a great space where over the years I’ve had the good fortune of dining and dancing.

I cannot accept this award without first recognizing Mayor Bloomberg, HRA Commissioner Robert Doar and former Commissioner Verna Eggeleston, all of whom are signatories to the NY/NY III Agreement. I want to also recognize former Commissioner Bill Grinker who made the first NY/NY Agreement happen in 1990. Thanks Bill for being here tonight! And thank you Pat Smith, HRA’s First Deputy, for your ongoing guidance and support.

Network Holds Tenth Annual Awards Gala

Oct.21.2013

Ted Houghton introduces guests at the Network's Awards Gala. For more pictures from the event, see our Facebook page or scroll to the bottom of this article.

New York’s supportive housing community congregated once again last week for the Network’s tenth annual Awards Gala. Some 550 guests arrived at Capitale on Wednesday for a night to celebrate the outstanding individuals and residences of supportive housing.

Despite the federal government shutdown and a still-recent death in the supportive housing family, the mood was cheery at Capitale. The evening began with a 90-minute cocktail hour as guests arrived, mingled, sipped drinks and noshed on hors d'oeuvres. We made sure to give guests plenty of time to network, celebrate old friendships and make new ones.

The night culminated, as always, with our awards ceremony. This year, we awarded five remarkable individuals and two stellar residences. Richman Housing Resources President Bill Traylor began the ceremony with a quick welcome and a moving tribute to Alan Epstein, a Network Board Member who passed away last month. 

“We dedicate this night to the memory of Alan Epstein, a great friend and a great champion,” Mr. Traylor said. “Alan also loved a great party, so we have to party as well.”

Next to the stage was Network Executive Director Ted Houghton, who served as a master of ceremonies for much of the night. Mr. Houghton sought to reassure those assembled that the shutdown would not impact supportive housing’s established reputation in government.

Gala Honoree: Hill Street Inn

Oct.15.2013

Click here on tickets for information to our Gala!

Hill Street Inn is a standout on any number of levels: It suffered (and survived) one of the worst not-in-my-backyard battles in our community’s history; it provides homes to 20 individuals, most of whom never imagined they’d be living indoors much less have a beautiful home of their own; and it provides a gorgeous new resource for the Troy community. 

Hill Street Inn is emblematic of what supportive housing is all about: It has fostered a community within the residence and bolstered the community surrounding it.

For Joseph’s House and Shelter, the road has been a long one. The organization overcame neighborhood opposition and two lawsuits to build Hill Street Inn over the course of seven years. Now, with the building’s unqualified success as a safe, inviting addition to Troy, the initial pushback seems like a dim memory.

“We’re proud of this program for a lot of reasons,” says Kevin O’Connor, Executive Director of Joseph’s House. “The housing-first model works. Plus the building is beautiful and is really becoming a center for the community.”