"If the rent wasn't so much, then I don't think I would be in a shelter right now.” @mayormamdani.bsky.social must keep his promise to expand CityFHEPS -- a key tool to ending the housing affordability crisis that has pushed over 100,000 people into shelters.
Reflecting on the Mayor's 1st 100 days, Alison Wilkey, our Dir. of Gov. Affairs told @thecity.nyc, “The Mamdani administration has yet to really articulate a plan for how it is addressing homelessness & the housing crisis for extremely low income New Yorkers. What we’ve seen is disappointing.”
That's why we're calling on @MayorMamdani to prioritize homeless and extremely low-income household in his housing plan and commit to 60K units for them over the next five years. Read our recommendations here: 2/2
No surprises in NYC's new cost of living measure: 62% of NYers don't earn enough to afford living here and housing is the biggest cost for most household types. Affordability will continue to be out of reach for the lowest income households unless NYC builds housing for those who need it most. 1/
“The back-pedalling he did on CityFHEPS was very disappointing. The back-pedaling he did on encampment sweeps was very disappointing...We will continue to push him to do...the right thing: to help homeless and at-risk New Yorkers.” said CFTH Exec. Dir. @giffendave.bsky.social to @theguardian.com.
Executive Director of CFTH, @giffendave.bsky.social, speaking to amNY, said the @mayor.nyc.gov affordability agenda so far appears too focused on middle- and working-class New Yorkers and “doesn’t seem to be adequately inclusive of lower-income New Yorkers and homeless New Yorkers.”
“The food quality is not good at most places. We’re also...seeing food that is not heated up all the way so it’s still semi-frozen, or food that...smells like it’s spoiled," Jamie Powlovich, Sr. Mgr for Systems Access & Shelter Compliance at @nyhomeless.bsky.social told @citylimitsnews.bsky.social.
In testimony to the @council.nyc.gov, Dir. of Government Affairs for @nyhomeless.bsky.social, Alison Wilkey said “The city is left with a moral choice here of, do we invest in CityFHEPS to house people and make sure that our people, our residents have a home? Or do we leave people in homelessness?”
“For every 100 extremely low-income families in the NYC metro...only 35 apartments are available & affordable to them. According to city data, about 70% of subsidized exits from city homeless shelters involved CityFHEPS.” CFTH Dir. of Gov. Affairs, Alison Wilkey testified to @council.nyc.gov.
“The term ‘outreach resistant’ makes it sound like people are saying ‘I want to be here.’ They’re not resisting. They’re just not being offered what’s meaningful and helpful to them.” 2/2
“If I’m a vegetarian and you keep offering me a trip to Gallagher’s Steakhouse, you can offer it to me every single day and it’s still not what I need,” @giffendave.bsky.social, Executive Director of @nyhomeless.bsky.social told @nytimes.com. 1/
“The best way to end the use of hotels is to dramatically reduce the number of people who need shelters in the first place by building more housing that’s actually affordable to the lowest-income New Yorkers”, @nyhomeless.bsky.social Executive Director Dave Giffen told the New York Post.
Encampment sweeps do not effectively address the root causes of homelessness and often disrupt individuals’ access to essential services. There are other more effective and ethical approaches. www.world-today-journal.com/nyc-homeless...
We're in Albany w/ @nyhomeless.bsky.social, @vocal-ny.bsky.social, @nycbarassociation.bsky.social and Assembly Member Reyes to urge lawmakers to ensure that internet access is available in shelters.
Internet access is not a luxury - it's a necessity + is essential to secure housing, jobs, and more.
Can you imagine not having internet in your home? Tens of thousands of people sleep in shelters without WiFi every night, making it harder to search for apartments, apply for benefits, & access healthcare. You can help us by taking 2 mins to support WiFi in shelters by contacting your legislator.
“No young person in New York City should ever be faced with the question of where they're going to be sleeping at night,” Jamie Powlovich, a senior manager for the Coalition for the Homeless told @gothamist.com.
*** The Legal Aid Society and Coalition for the Homeless Statement on City’s Planned Closure of 30th Street Intake Shelter ***
“If we want to live in a city where people don’t die on the streets, let’s live in a city where people don’t have to live on the street,” Coalition for the Homeless Executive Director @giffendave.bsky.social told @crainsnewyork.bsky.social this week.
“As Juan De La Cruz, the Director of Emergency Relief Services at the Coalition for the Homeless, was handing out food on Sunday in Midtown Manhattan, he was startled to hear two homeless men tell him that police officers had taken their sleeping bags and warm winter coats from them while they were sheltering in the subway system.” “New York City’s Homeless Population Endures Another Dangerous Storm” by Wesley Parnell and Dana Rubinstein the NEW YORK TIMES Feb 23rd, 2026
“They shouldn’t be taking any actions that are going to put people at risk or lessen their ability to stay warm or survive the blizzard,” @giffendave.bsky.social, Coalition for the Homeless Executive Director, told @nytimes.com reporters. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/w...
If you see someone who has no place to get out of the cold, please let them know that warming sites across the five boroughs are available. Over 50 NYC hospitals, as well as DHS drop-in centers and shelters, are also operating with a full open-door policy. portal.311.nyc.gov/article/?kan...
Regardless of the historic blizzard, the Coalition’s Grand Central Food Program vans were out last night – as they are every night – bringing hot meals, critical supplies, and info about the warming sites to people surviving on the streets of NYC.
Outreach is more effective when people do not fear enforcement. “When city workers show up & throw away all the belongings of somebody who’s surviving out on the streets, that creates a real feeling of distrust,” our Exec. Dir. @giffendave.bsky.social told amNY.
Alexius Marcano from @nyhomeless.bsky.social explains how imposing fees on unhoused populations creates a cycle of debt that makes it even harder to secure stable housing and undermines public safety.
This was just one idea discussed in our recent webinar, ‘Serve & Protect or Curb & Collect?’
*** Coalition for the Homeless and @legalaidnyc.bsky.social on City Revamping Homeless Sweeps *** Read full statement here.
"We must invest in solutions that move us closer to ending the homelessness crisis altogether...@NYCMayor could...immediately [move] 2,000 of the hardest-to-serve unsheltered New Yorkers into empty supportive housing units." 3/3
"These sweeps failed on multiple levels. First, they were glaringly inhumane – many unhoused New Yorkers lost the few possessions they had, and the process undermined their trust in city services...We fully support the mayor’s decision to end encampment sweeps." 2/
Our Exec. Dir. Dave Giffen and @winnyc.bsky.social CEO Chris Quinn, penned an op-ed in @cityandstateny.bsky.social. "Over the last 4 years, former Mayor Adams responded to the homelessness crisis with a series of...sweeps of encampments that failed to move a single NYer into permanent housing." 1/
Mark your calendars for April 24th! This year's Women Mean Business Luncheon is a celebration of courage. Join hundreds of NYC's most passionate leaders as we come together to raise crucial funds for the Coalition's First Step Job Training Program. www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/wmbl-tickets
