How Do Rent-Burdened New Yorkers Cope? Posted on August 24, 2016 by Mireya Navarro in The New York Times Housing is generally considered affordable if a household allots no more than 30 percent of its income to home payments and utilities. By that standard, more than half of renters in New York City are “cost-burdened” and may find it hard to pay for other ne ..Read More
Success and Struggles Point to a Better Way to Help NYC’s Chronically Homeless Posted on August 23, 2016 by Lukas Vrbka in City Limits For three years, Mark Williams has come home to his own studio apartment in a spacious six-story building on the western edge of Fordham manor. But even now, Williams remembers exactly what it’s like to freeze on the New York City streets in the winter: ..Read More
The Rise and Fall of ‘Clean and Sober’ in Supportive Housing Posted on August 23, 2016 by Lukas Vrbka in City Limits New York City’s homeless population is no monolith, and the 2005 NY/NYIII supportive-housing funding agreement explicitly recognized that. Kingsbridge Terrace, a supportive housing facility run by Jericho Project in the Bronx, was in part funded for R ..Read More
Too Rich to Be Poor, Too Poor to Get By Posted on August 22, 2016 by Lili Holzer-Glier in The Wilson Quarterly A line of wilting people snakes across the busy Brooklyn sidewalk. Families cluster beneath a few sparse trees and flatten themselves under narrow awnings, some sinking to the ground, seeking a sliver of shade. Most people have been waiting two to three hours ..Read More
A Bit of Cash Can Keep Someone Off the Streets for 2 Years or More Posted on August 11, 2016 by David Shultz in Science If someone is about to become homeless, giving them a single cash infusion, averaging about $1000, may be enough to keep them off the streets for at least 2 years. That’s the conclusion of a new study, which finds that programs that proactively assist those ..Read More
On Tenant Blacklist, Errors and Renters With Little Recourse Posted on August 16, 2016 by Kim Barker and Jessica Silver-Greenberg in The New York Times After two years of being homeless, napping in stores open all night and more recently staying in a convent in Harlem, Margot Miller found out in March that her luck was about to change: She had qualified for an apartment for low-income older adults. “This is ..Read More
Today’s Read: Advocates Fume as State Housing Plan Delayed Until 2017 Posted on August 15, 2016 by Jacquelyn Simone While thousands of New Yorkers endure dangerously high temperatures on the city’s scorching streets and in crowded shelters, politicians in Albany are needlessly delaying the development of housing that could rescue them from the indignity and perils of home ..Read More
Explosion of Homelessness Predicted for Obama Administration Voucher Plan to Desegregate Low-Income Tenants Posted on August 14, 2016 by Greg B. Smith in New York Daily News A well-intentioned Obama administration move to combat segregation of the poor is a recipe for disaster in New York City, a growing chorus of critics says. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development wants to change the way it doles out housing vouche ..Read More
Health Care Reaches Homeless on Streets Posted on August 14, 2016 by Hannah Furfaro in The Wall Street Journal In the shadow of a Metro-North Railroad overpass in Harlem, Richard Thomas keeps his right leg propped up on an old stationary exercise bike. Two white medical bands on his wrist hint at his latest hospital stint. Mr. Thomas is one of an estimated 200 homeless ..Read More