ULI NY’s Young Leaders Group hosted two one-hour panel discussions on local issues in the webinar “Homelessness in NYC: Looking Beyond Hotel Room Headlines.”
The panel focused on the challenges that are being exacerbated by the pandemic and how the government is working to address the problems.
Guests: Jacquelyn Simone – Senior Policy Analyst, Coalition for the Homeless and Ellery Gillette – Asst. Commissioner, NYC Department of Homeless Services
Moderator: Lazslo Syrop – Director, The Hudson Companies
Here’s what we learned: To address the issues of homelessness, one must first understand that the homeless population consists of people from various backgrounds such as individuals, families, and people with substance abuse issues. By understanding the shelter population, one can provide better services. For example, families would greatly benefit by staying in shelters close to the neighborhood where their kids go to school. Thus, the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) has focused on building shelters in various locations throughout each borough.
As new shelters open up, an important step is community outreach. By interfacing with the neighborhood, the non-profits operating the shelters can build goodwill and successfully integrate the shelters into the community.
One major challenge stemming from the pandemic is the need to space out shelter occupants. DHS has added additional shelter space through the use of empty hotel rooms. An added benefit of these hotel rooms is that they provide a flexibility of services, as not all people are comfortable living in congregate shelters.
Many challenges lie ahead in 2021 for homelessness in NYC, as we continue to see the effects of the pandemic greatly impact those that are most vulnerable.