New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Department of Social Services (DSS) Commissioner Molly Wasow Park today celebrated a record-breaking year for placing formerly homeless New Yorkers into permanent housing.
More homeless New Yorkers were connected to subsidized permanent housing than any year in recent history. In Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24), DSS helped more than 18,500 households move out of shelter and into stable homes — a 24 percent increase from the previous year. Finally, through the Affordable Housing Services (AHS) initiative, DSS is creating 844 deeply affordable homes for New Yorkers in the shelter system with City Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement (CityFHEPS) vouchers.
Within the first six months of the official launch of this program and through an emergency declaration, DSS is fast-tracking the opening of more than 360 units, with more than 243 units already open. Today’s announcement comes as the Adams administration aims to address the housing crisis with the “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” proposal, which aims to produce as many as 108,850 new homes over 15 years.
“… turning the American Dream into a reality…”
“A home is more than just a place to rest at the end of the day — it’s a pathway towards turning the American Dream into a reality,” said Mayor Adams. “Today’s announcement is a sign that New Yorkers most in need are receiving the full support of our city government to move from the streets and shelters to stability; however, our work is far from done. We remain committed to making sure homeless New Yorkers achieve the dignity they deserve by finding stable and safe housing.”
“Every New Yorker deserves a permanent home,” said Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom. “We’ve made significant strides in that effort — in FY24 alone, we’ve helped over 18,500 households move from shelter into permanent housing. That means more adults and young people have stable places to root their lives, kitchen tables to share a meal, counters to sit at while doing their homework, and the pride in calling a space ‘home.’ We know that housing remains a complex challenge and will continue to work the issue from all angles, including utilizing innovative models like the Affordable Housing Services program to give more individuals and families the home they deserve.”
“We are tremendously proud of our incredible teams — from frontline staff and case managers to policy experts and agency leadership — that helped realize our focused efforts to connect a record number of New Yorkers in shelter to permanent homes, despite a historic low in the city’s housing vacancy rate,” said DSS Commissioner Molly Wasow Park. “As we celebrate the opening of nearly 400 deeply affordable homes while fast-tracking the creation of another 500 such homes for households in shelter with CityFHEPS vouchers through our ground-breaking Affordable Housing Services program, we continue to act with urgency, deploying every tool at our disposal, pushing for bold and innovative rehousing solutions, and using city-funded rental assistance to build on this historic progress.”
With more than 9,000 households with CityFHEPS vouchers currently in the city’s shelter system unable to find housing due to the city’s severe housing shortage, AHS created a newer, much needed, and scalable pathway out of shelter. Through the program, the city helps nonprofits purchase or enter long-term, building-wide leases on affordable housing sites — locking in long-term affordability with strong tenant protections for CityFHEPS voucher holders.
Since the start of the Adams administration, DSS has already opened nearly 400 apartments across six high-quality affordable housing sites in the Bronx and Brooklyn in partnership with nonprofit human services providers VIP Community Services, the MBD Community Housing Corporation, The Doe Fund, and others. Another 118 units are scheduled to come online by early next year, and another 329 additional units are in the longer-term pipeline. The nonprofits manage building operations and maintenance while ensuring services to help tenants maintain housing stability. The majority of the remaining apartments are scheduled to come online over the coming months, through February 2025, which will mark the one-year anniversary of this innovative housing program for CityFHEPS voucher holders in shelter.
Since the implementation of city-funded rental assistance in 2014, over 225,000 New Yorkers in over 106,000 households have been helped to move into permanent housing or remain stably housed. Currently, the CityFHEPS program alone supports 47,000 households by providing a rental subsidy. The impact of these efforts is reflected in the steady and significant increase in the number of households using city-funded resources to move out of shelter. In FY24, the majority of households in shelter used CityFHEPS to move into permanent housing.
Record-breaking progress in connecting New Yorkers to permanent housing. 13,403 households obtained permanent housing using CityFHEPS in FY24, a 42 percent increase compared to FY23.
DSS’s focus on ensuring that New Yorkers exiting shelter are positioned for long-term housing stability is reflected in the steady decline in the return to shelter rate. In FY24, the rate continued to decline, meaning that the vast majority of households the agency helped place in permanent housing remained stably housed. DSS achieved better housing outcomes for all populations, placing 42 percent more families with children and 13 percent more single adults from shelter into permanent housing overall.
“… thousands of New Yorkers lifted out of homelessness …”
“Today we celebrate a historic milestone in addressing our city’s housing crisis,” said New York State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar. “We have smashed all previous records by placing 18,500 households into permanent, stable housing—a 24 percent increase over last year. That is thousands of New Yorkers lifted out of homelessness and empowered to embark on a path of economic opportunity. I am proud of my work in Albany to address housing insecurity, passing a package of reforms in Albany to supercharge affordable housing production. We will continue implementing every policy so that all New Yorkers have safe, affordable housing.”
Photo credit: HWM Archives.
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