Categories: Funding, New York State
01.10.2023
The Supportive Housing Network of NY (The Network) released the following statement today in response to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 2023 State of the State speech:
We applaud the governor for seeking to address the state’s overall affordable housing crisis by making it easier to build new units – especially in well-resourced areas that have long delayed, or even outright opposed, such development.
In addition, we are thrilled to see the state renew its commitment to investing in a full continuum of care for individuals struggling with serious mental illness by creating 3,500 new units of residential housing that will provide the higher level of services and support that these New Yorkers need.
But it is absolutely critical that the push to add new units does not occur at the expense of making much-needed investment in New York’s existing housing stock - particularly in supportive housing. If current units come offline even as new ones are constructed, we will be constantly playing catchup and never fully address the mounting need for safe, reliable housing.
Due to years of chronic underfunding, thousands of supportive developments across the state are short-staffed and in desperate need of repair. Workers are underpaid, and tenants cannot access the full suite of services they need to remain housed and succeed. We look forward to the governor’s executive budget proposal, in which we hope she will right this long-standing wrong.