Categories: New York City
04.06.2022
In March, the Network and members testified at New York City Council Preliminary Budget Hearings.
On March 9, the Network’s Associate Director of Advocacy and Outreach Tierra Labrada testified at the New York City Council Committee on General Welfare. Tierra emphasized the need for the City to implement a 5.4% annual COLA for the supportive housing workforce, which is predominantly women of color (serving predominantly Black and Brown residents), and to fully fund supportive housing contracts. She also stressed the dire need to increase HRA’s staff capacity and assemble a team to reduce supportive housing vacancies. Read the full testimony here.
Also on March 9, the Network’s Director of Policy and Planning Rebecca Sauer testified at the New York City Council Committee on Mental Health, Disabilities and Addiction. Rebecca echoed Tierra’s testimony reiterating the need for a COLA full funding for supportive housing contracts, emphasizing critically-underfunded scattered site programs. Read the full testimony here.
On March 14, Rebecca testified at the New York City Council Committee on Housing and Buildings. She called on the City to improve the NYC 15/15 initiative, preserve 300 supportive housing units each year, increase staffing at HPD, and identify public sites for supportive housing. She also advocated for increasing resources in systems that get people out of shelters or off the street and into permanent housing. Read the full testimony here.
See a press release covering March 9th hearings with member quotes here.
See a press release covering March 14th hearings with member quotes here.