Governor Hochul Announces $29.4 Million for Supportive Housing Projects and Emergency Shelter Repairs

Will create 239 Units of Permanent Supportive Housing and Fund Shelter Repairs Across Seven Counties  

Provides Supportive Services and Housing Stability for Veterans, Individuals With Substance Use Disorder, and Those Suffering From Serious Mental Illness

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that $29.4 million in state funding has been awarded to nine projects in seven counties that will provide permanent supportive housing to New Yorkers experiencing homelessness. Supported through the state's

Homeless Housing and Assistance Program, these projects include emergency shelter repairs and developments that will create an additional 239 units of permanent supportive housing serving veterans, individuals with a history of substance use disorder, and those suffering from serious mental illness.  

"The pandemic has exacerbated housing difficulties for many New Yorkers, especially our heroic veterans, those with substance use disorders, and those suffering from a serious mental illness," Governor Hochul said. "These state-supported projects strike at the root of homelessness by pairing affordable housing with crucial supportive services that put vulnerable individuals and their families on the path to long term housing stability and more productive, fulfilling lives." 

Administered by the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, the Homeless Housing and Assistance Program made available $128 million in capital funding for projects to build new supportive housing units or to repair existing emergency shelters. So far this year, the program has allocated nearly $68.5 million that will create 573 units of permanent supportive housing, 14 units of transitional housing, and 36 units of emergency housing.  

The projects awarded funding today include:  

• CDS Monarch, Inc. was awarded $3.5 million to transform a two-story warehouse into 14 units of supportive housing in the town of Olean in Cattaraugus County.  
• Mt. Olive Development Corp. was awarded $4 million to help construct a three-story building and 20 units of supportive housing serving individuals 55 or older in Buffalo.  
• Community Services for Every1 was awarded $2.5 million to help rehabilitate a former community center and athletic facility and add 12 units of supportive housing in Buffalo. 
• Samaritan Daytop Village, Inc. was awarded $3.5 million to rehabilitate two apartment buildings in 86 units of supportive housing serving the chronically homeless in the Wakefield neighborhood of the Bronx.  
• New Destiny Housing Corporation was awarded $4.8 million to rehabilitate a former shelter into 30 units of supportive housing in Bronx County.  
• Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc. was awarded $1.8 million to help construct seven units of supportive housing serving homeless veterans and others in the town of Trumansburg in Tompkins County.    
• STEL, Inc., and Options for Community Living, Inc. was awarded $5.5 million to help develop a three-story building with 52 units of supportive housing serving individuals with serious mental illness in Nassau County.    
• Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc. was awarded $3.7 million to construct a three-story building with 18 units of supportive housing serving individuals with substance use disorder in the town if Tyre in Seneca County.  

SCO Family of Services was also awarded $85,000 to repair the Peconic Heights Shelter in Suffolk County. The funding will address the emergency shelter's outdated electrical system and preserve six units of emergency housing for homeless single women.    

About $59.5 million of Homeless and Housing Assistance Program funding remains for Fiscal 2021. Last year, the program provided funding to 30 projects that will add 881 units of supportive housing and repair emergency shelters.   

OTDA Executive Deputy Commissioner Barbara C. Guinn said, "Permanent supportive housing is central to our effort to curb homelessness in our state and ensure all New Yorkers have access to safe, affordable housing. These projects, like the many others supported through the Homeless Housing and Assistance Program, will provide a clear path for some of our state's most vulnerable residents to achieve lasting housing stability. Governor Hochul has been a true champion of this program, which is evidence of her resolve to end homelessness in New York once and for all."  

CDS Life Transitions Chief Operating Officer Andrew Sewnauth said, "CDS is honored to partner with the State of New York in providing safe, affordable, supportive housing to survivors of domestic violence. Governor Hochul's support for the Homeless Housing and Assistance Program provides crucial funding allowing us to further our shared mission of providing equitable housing for all, regardless of personal circumstance, through the development of State Street Apartments."

Community Services for Every1 CEO Mindy Cervoni said, "This award will address significant unmet needs for affordable and accessible housing in the City of Buffalo. Apartments at the historic St. John Kanty Lyceum will create Erie County's first permanent supportive housing program explicitly developed for survivors of domestic violence, and will allow Community Services to assist them with any factors that contribute to their housing instability. This need is especially prevalent for survivors of domestic violence as incidence rates have drastically risen since the onset of the pandemic. Governor Hochul's continued support for these projects is addressing the issues of homelessness and domestic violence, while affecting positive and meaningful change in our communities."

Samaritan Daytop Village President and CEO Mitchell Netburn said, "We applaud Governor Hochul's commitment to supportive housing and greatly appreciate her administration's efforts to improve the lives of homeless and disadvantaged New Yorkers. The Homeless Housing Assistance Program award we just received will provide critically needed capital funds to transform, preserve, and greatly improve the living conditions for 125 formerly homeless and low income families at two buildings located on East 243rd Street in the Bronx."

Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services Executive Director Johanna Anderson said, "We are thrilled to have received funding to support the second phase of Pine View Circle in Seneca County and Village Grove in Trumansburg --our greenest project to date. These projects would not be possible without the support of Governor Hochuland her commitment to providing supportive, quality, and affordable housing. We applaud this commitment and are grateful that we are able to have a hand in providing these critical supportive services to our community."

New Destiny Housing Executive Director Nicole Branca said, "We want to thank Governor Hochul and the team at New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance for its award of $$4,645,198 for Lily House, located in the University Heights section of the Bronx. With this capital funding we will create 30 units of much needed supportive housing for homeless domestic violence survivors and their children, and through an Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative award, will provide services that will help these families to remain safe and stably housed. We thank the state for this funding and their ongoing partnership in the effort to break the cycle of abuse and homelessness for some of New York's most vulnerable families."

Mt. Olive Development Chairman Robert Mootry said, "Our efforts to eliminate homelessness start with ensuring the most vulnerable among us have access to safe affordable housing and the supportive services they can rely on to live in independent settings. The Homeless Housing and Assistance Program is providing us the funding to make this project to house seniors in Buffalo a reality. I applaud Governor Hochul's continued commitment to helping eradicate homelessness throughout our state."

The Homeless Housing Assistance Program provides capital grants and loans to not-for-profit corporations, charitable and religious organizations, and municipalities to acquire, construct, or rehabilitate housing for persons who are unable to secure adequate housing without special assistance. The grants are awarded through a competitive process by the New York State Homeless Housing and Assistance Corporation, a public benefit corporation staffed by OTDA.   

Through this program, New York State has appropriated more than $1.2 billion toward the development of supportive housing. In total, the program has created more than 22,000 units of housing to support individuals and families experiencing homelessness.