The Supportive Housing Network of New York (the Network), a NLIHC state partner launched on November 21 as part of the Campaign 4 NY/NY Housing a new advocacy initiative to send 20,000 messages to Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York state legislators in Albany – one message for every supportive housing unit Mr. Cuomo committed to fund in his January 2016 State of the State address. During last spring’s New York state legislative session, Mr. Cuomo and the state legislature agreed to appropriate $2 billion over five years to fund a statewide 100,000 unit affordable housing plan, which included funding for the first 6,000 units of Mr. Cuomo’s 20,000 unit 15-year supportive housing commitment.
At the conclusion of the 2016 legislative session, the allocation of the $2 billion was delayed until Mr. Cuomo and leaders of the legislature could agree on the details of the housing plan to be outlined in a memorandum of understanding (MOU). Once Mr. Cuomo and the legislature agree on the terms of an MOU, the $2 billion appropriation will serve as a sorely needed source of funding to address the shortage of over 624,000 rental housing units affordable and available to New York State’s extremely low income (ELI) households. Seventy-three percent of New York state’s ELI renters experience a severe housing cost burden, paying more than 50% of their limited income on housing costs, leaving very little available to pay for food, education, transportation, healthcare, and other necessities. More than 88,000 New Yorkers are homeless on any given night, according to the latest data available from the HUD.
Advocates are urging Mr. Cuomo and the state legislature to agree on an MOU before the end of the year. “We need this now, to avoid losing momentum and having projects fall out of the development pipeline, which they will without a long term commitment” said Laura Mascuch, the Network’s executive director.
NLIHC supports this initiative and encourages New York advocates to sign on. Advocates can click here to add their name to the campaign letter.
For questions, contact Stephen Piasecki at the Network by emailing [email protected].