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During the height of the pandemic’s economic disruption, in late January 2021, at least 13,440 homeless single adults slept in hotel beds that were converted to temporary shelters, according to city data analyzed by the Coalition for the Homeless. Earlier this month,the number of hotel beds used fell to roughly 4,560, but homelessness citywide is at a record high, said Jacquelyn Simone, the group’s policy director.
“We’re at the highest number of homeless people in New York City since the dawn of modern homelessness in the late 1970s,” said Craig Hughes, a senior social worker at the Urban Justice Center, a nonprofit law firm for the indigent.
A growing majority of affordable housing groups and social service providers say stable housing is fundamental to not only reducing street homelessness, but also critical in the city’s approach to mental health care.
The Times spoke with affordable housing experts, developers and residents of 90 Sands to explain the model’s appeal and the challenges it faces.
How It Works
In essence, supportive housing is rent-stabilized, affordable housing, with voluntary, on-site services designed for formerly homeless tenants. Proponents of the model believe residents should be persuaded, not forced, to accept social services.
“This is not an institution,” said Brenda Rosen, the president and chief executive of Breaking Ground, the developer of 90 Sands. “This is an apartment building with a lease and a key.”
There are several public agencies involved in supportive housing and units can have different criteria, but qualified applicants generally have serious mental illness, substance abuse issues or both. Even so, supportive housing is less expensive than operating temporary shelters, said Eric Rosenbaum, the president and chief executive of Project Renewal, a homeless services group. It cost Project Renewal almost $52,000 last year to keep a single adult in a shelter, but only about $26,000 for an individual in supportive housing, he said.
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