City Drops Rent for Shelter Plans

Last Friday, Mayor Bloomberg announced that the City has agreed to drop plans to charge homeless families "rent" for shelter! Instead, the city will now implement savings plans for families with income -- allowing homeless families to access the money they save to facilitate their exit from shelter. This represents a major step forward and a big success in our campaign to stop the city from charging homeless families outrageous sums of money to stay in city shelters -- in some cases upwards of $900 a month.

You helped to make this victory possible! Thank you to the more than 6,000 people who signed the petition to tell the State legislature to stop the city's plan. Today's agreement is a huge win for the thousands of New Yorkers who are working every day to get out of shelter and back on their feet. This is about helping shelter residents who have jobs, who work hard, and who want to move out of shelter and into permanent housing build up savings to do just that.

Thanks to the leadership of Assemblymember Keith Wright and State Senator Daniel Squadron, along with Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Paterson, this agreement creates a common sense solution that will help families move out of shelter once and for all. Read more about this plan in the Mayor's press release and in this article from the New York Times.

Thank you again for your effort and support. It could not have been done without you!

Gratefully,

Mary E. Brosnahan
Executive Director, Coalition for the Homeless