THE NYC HOUSING RESOURCE GUIDE

Amidst high unemployment, increasing poverty and an acute shortage of affordable housing, the number of people experiencing homelessness in New York City has reached an all-time high of over 50,000 individuals. Additionally, the number of homeless children in shelters has reached a record level of over 21,000 (numbers as of February 2013).

Contributing to this crisis, New York City's housing affordability problems have grown significantly worse in recent years, and the city continues to lose low-cost housing while renter incomes have not grown in real terms. Between 2002 and 2008, NYC lost more than 194,000 rental housing units affordable to low-income households, a 16.4 percent decrease, at the same time that renter incomes in New York City stagnated. According to a recent report by the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, 60 percent of all renters in New York City cannot afford the Federal fair market rent for a typical two-bedroom apartment, and a family in New York City has to earn a wage of $26.13 per hour to afford a typical two-bedroom apartment.

Since the guide was first proposed in 2010, it was meant to provide supplemental information on the dwindling housing resources for homeless families. In 2013, the need is even greater. For the first time ever, the City of New York has no dedicated subsidy program in place to help move homeless families out of shelter and into permanent housing. The resources presented in this guide represent the remaining options for housing and assisting families that are experiencing or vulnerable to homelessness, yet they are often difficult to access or insufficient for many family’s needs.  The Housing for Vulnerable Families Coalition brings together a wide spectrum of stakeholders that care about housing for very vulnerable families in New York City, including service providers, advocates and policy makers from the domestic violence, child welfare, and housing fields, to share available resources, discuss shared challenges and create solutions to help provide greater housing stability for the most vulnerable families in our community.

Click on one of the sections below to explore the housing programs available to New York City residents.  You can also search by keyword using the search box in the upper right hand corner of this page. 

Part A -- Housing Subsidies

1. Section 8
2. FEPS
3. ACS Housing Subsidy
4. Office of Housing & Homeless Services/Initiatives
5. Coalition for the Homeless Rental Assistance Program
6. HomeBase
7. HUD Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program (VASH)
8. DRIE/SCRIE
9. Nursing Home Transition and Diversion (NHTD) Housing Subsidy
   
   

Part B -- Affordable Housing

1. NYCHA Public Housing
2. Project-Based Section 8
3. Mitchell Lama
4. Low-Income Housing Lotteries
5. LISC Independence Starts at Home Program
6. CLOTH
   
   

Part C -- Supportive Housing

1. NY/NY I, II, and III
2. Common Ground
3. Women in Need
4. Housing + Solutions
5. CAMBA
6. Services for the Underserved (SUS)
7. Institute for Community Living
8. GEEL Community Services
9. Edwin Gould Academy
10. Casa Sandra
11. Schafer Hall Young Adult Initiative
    
    

Part D -- Homelessness Prevention

1. HomeBase
2. HRA Rental Arrears Grant
3. Housing Court Answers
4. Coalition for the Homeless Eviction Prevention Program
5. CAMBA
6. The Bridge Fund
7. Brownsville Partnership
   
   

Part E -- Emergency Shelter / Transitional Housing

1. PATH
2. AFIC
3. Singles Shelter
4. Drop-in Centers
5. HRA Domestic Violence Shelter System
6. Covenant House
7. Ali Forney Center
8. Women's Prison Association Huntington House Family Reunification Residence
9. The Door
10. Safe Horizon
    
    

Part F -- Utility Assistance

1. Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP)
2. Utility Assistance Program (UAP)