Categories: New York State
11.29.2016
Call on the Governor to make good on his nearly year-old promise to create 20,000 homes.
The advent of Thanksgiving inspired faith leaders across New York State to call on the Governor to make good on his nearly year-old promise to create 20,000 homes for the most vulnerable homeless New Yorkers over the next fifteen years and release funds to pay for the first 6,000. Pastors and other religious representatives from Syracuse, Binghamton, Albany, and Long Island spoke of the crushing need in their own communities as well as the shocking number of homeless people statewide.
Father Pizarelli, founder of Hope House Ministries in Port Jefferson noted that after a particularly ugly election season, Governor Cuomo could provide much needed moral leadership by ensuring his promise of 20,000 units of supportive housing lives on through the next fifteen years (link here). Pastor John Carter at Abundant Life Christian Center in East Syracuse wrote that more than 4,600 people in Onondaga County experienced homelessness in 2015. Of those, almost 1,200 were children (link here). Pastor J.J. Hefley of First Assembly of God Church in Binghamton noted that the number of homeless New Yorkers outnumbers the combined populations of both Binghamton AND Ithaca (link here). And Peter Cook, Executive Director of the New York State Council of Churches, penned an op-ed in the Albany Times-Union, noting “Without a written agreement and a long-term funding plan, these (20,000 promised) homes won't be developed, and New Yorkers will continue to suffer more difficult winters,” (link here).
The recent opinion pieces built on the faith community’s unwavering support for the creation of sufficient supportive housing to meet the needs of New York’s most vulnerable homeless individuals. More than 270 faith-based organizations have signed on as supporters of the Campaign 4 NY/NY Housing.
The Network joins these leaders in their insistence on immediate action and asks that you click HERE to send a message to the Governor, Senate and Assembly leaders to sign the Memorandum of Understanding now.