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Homelessness

Why the County’s Commitment to Prevent Homelessness is Working

November 9, 2022 by Pamela Brown

No one should be without a home.

County leaders fighting homelessness: Leonard Townes (left) and Craig Wong

Westchester County is on a mission to prevent the county’s most vulnerable families and individuals from homelessness. “The economy has picked up in Westchester in terms of how expensive it is to live here, and most people’s incomes haven’t matched that. It’s a blessing to know opportunities exist to be in a home,” says Leonard G. Townes, Commissioner of Westchester Department of Social Services (DSS). “We are doing all we can to keep our homeless numbers low,” he says. To ensure that, Westchester County has helped over 200 individuals and families in the county find leases for permanent homes through the Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) program, made available through the American Rescue Plan Act.

“The program came out at a time when there was a challenge to our national economy. It wasn’t just a simple one- or two- year program. The benefit of the voucher is for nine years so it secures them in housing for an extremely long time which is uncommon. That makes it special,” says Towne. “We’ve had a decline in homelessness over the years, but our numbers are starting to go back up little by little.”

Westchester leads all New York State counties in using the Federal plan to prevent homelessness. “We are more than proud about that level of success. It’s always been a challenge to house people throughout Westchester County. These opportunities don’t come around too often where we get support in housing our individuals,” says Townes. “Westchester County is a very wealthy county and it’s challenging for lower earning people to find housing here. Our goal is to identify housing available, help people find housing close to where they work, and also provide them with the supports to make it possible.”

The program has specific criteria to identify those most at risk of homelessness and in need of safe, stable homes, such as individuals and families who are homeless, at-risk of homelessness, fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking, or were recently homeless or have a high risk of housing instability.

According to Westchester County Executive George Latimer, the county had serious concerns about the impact of Covid and the most vulnerable being able to stay in their homes when Covid arose. “By staying ahead of the curve and using all available resources to keep people from homelessness, we’re not only preventing human tragedy for those individuals and families, but we’re reducing the social and economic costs of homelessness for everyone in Westchester,” he says. “In the end, government programs are only as good as our ability to execute on them.”

The county’s success rate is attributed to diligent advanced planning by the County’s Department of Social Services and the County’s partner in the program, WESTHAB, a nonprofit agency that develops affordable and supportive housing, operates homeless shelters, and provides youth programs and employment services. “WESTHAB has done a tremendous job in helping us along with the program. When the state made us aware of EVH, it was all hands-on deck. We pulled together as a community organization and government organization to really make this a success. We want to serve the population with whatever funding and programming is released,” says Craig Wong, WESTHAB Program Administrator in Homeless Services. The County’s proactive response to processing applications places Westchester in a position to help even more people as additional federal application slots become available.

“Westchester County is really looking at making sure that affordable housing is being built throughout the state and we’re trying our best to look at all land and space opportunities to create additional housing,” says Townes. “Our team and their level of commitment and the partnerships we have are meeting the needs of the people we serve and that makes me proud. People are really helping the communities of Westchester County, but we have to zone in on more community support in developing housing.”

The work goes beyond providing homes to retaining their housing. Wong explains DSS has developed a thorough follow-up care program. “A lot of these folks have never had their own place before so there is a feeling of elation, but they also have that apprehension of how they will be able to keep their home,” he says. “We have a really cohesive team of DSS workers in place who can help them manage, whether it’s budgeting or accessing services or community organizations to help them succeed. We also have a Continuum of Care Board whose goal is to end homelessness as well as hundreds of people and dozens of agencies who have the mindset and the heart to help.”

Offering stability to families and individuals is important especially around the holidays. “Everyone wants to be home for the holidays, so it’s a great time to have this initiative come into play,” says Townes. “The holiday season is always a time when people tend to think a little bit more about other people and how they’re doing. To know that we are helping people establish a home and have their own private dwelling and that opportunities exist for people to move their lives forward is a blessing. If you can get in your first home now and celebrate the holidays, there’s nothing like that feeling.”

Filed Under: Cover Stories Tagged With: Ending Homelessness, Homelessness, Leonard G. Townes, Preventing Homelessness, Westchester County, Westchester Department of Social Services, WESTHAB

New ‘Community Build Back’ Program Aims “to Enable Families to Stay in their Homes”

September 17, 2020 by Inside Press

Program will Assist Westchester Residents Facing Homelessness Due To The Covid-19 Pandemic

In an effort to stabilize communities and families in the County impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Westchester County Executive George Latimer is announcing the Community Build Back Program.  The four pronged umbrella Program has four programs under it.  Two utilize HUD money, the RED STOP Eviction Project and the RED Rent HELP Project, and two separate ones utilize $10 million dollars in CARES ACT money the Blue Priority Homeowners Initiative and the Blue Small Business Landlord Initiative.

Latimer said: “As a result of COVID-19 and the impact on the economy, both the federal government and New York State issued moratoriums on tenant evictions.  Those moratoriums are coming to an end and unemployment benefits have been greatly diminished.  The Community Build Back Program will enable families to stay in their homes as we head into the fall/winter season.”  

The RED STOP Eviction Project utilizes federal HUD funds and will provide up to 4 months of rental or utility arrears for tenants facing eviction or shut off as long as they can demonstrate that their financial hardship is due to COVID.  Tenants must be within 21 days of eviction, must demonstrate ability to pay their rent going forward, and must live in a Westchester Urban County Consortium municipality.  Assistance is available through select non-profits including: Westchester Residential Opportunities, Community Housing Innovations, Washingtonville Housing Alliance and Choice of New Rochelle. 

RED Rent HELP Project – “moving forward” also utilizes federal HUD funds and will provide up to 12 months of rental assistance for families impacted by COVID but focus on households where the tenants worked in industries closed until Phase 4, or who worked for a business that no longer exists. RED Rent HELP Project will be run by the County’s Planning Department.

The Blue Priority Homeowners Initiative, uses $2.5 million dollars and focuses on homeowners facing foreclosure.  That part of the Program, which is estimated to help 325 households in the County, and assist them with up to 4 months of mortgage / cooperative arrears.  Homeowners must show that COVID has negatively impacted their ability to pay their mortgage.  The homeowner will also have to show that they were up to date on payments as of March 2020.  This part of the Program also runs until the end of the year and will be administered through select nonprofits including: Westchester Residential Opportunities, Community Housing Innovations, Washingtonville Housing Alliance, HDSW (Human Development Services of Westchester) and the Bridge Fund.

Westchester Residential Opportunities, Inc. Executive Director Marlene Zarfes said: “This eviction prevention program will be a lifesaver for so many County residents at risk of becoming homeless.  Westchester Residential Opportunities is proud to partner with the County to help keep people safely in their homes and keep families together.”

For the Blue Small Business Landlord Initiative, $7.5 million dollars has been earmarked to assist approximately 2,400 households in the County by working directly with their landlords and bringing their rent up to date. The Program runs from now until the end of 2020, and can cover up to 75% of back rent for up to 4 months of rent for landlords who can show that their tenants were up to date in March, but have since not been able to pay their rent due to COVID.  This program, to be done by lottery, will assist landlords who own between 4 and 20 units.  Blue Small Business Landlord Initiative will be run by the County’s Planning Department.

Building & Realty Institute (BRI) of Westchester and the Mid-Hudson Region Executive Director Tim Foley said: “We’re thankful for the creative leadership shown by Westchester County’s Community Build Back Program, and the focus on supplying urgently-needed aid to struggling tenants, landlords, and property owners alike. The landlords and property owners of the Building & Realty Institute have been checking in on our at-risk tenants, offering flexibility and payment plans on their rent, and trying to be as accommodating as possible to good tenants who lost their jobs or lost income due to the COVID pandemic. But as the public health and economic emergency stretches on with no end-date in sight, we need government to step up to stabilize our housing situation. With this four-prong approach, Westchester County is clearly doing so.”

Latimer said: “Landlords, many times, are small business owners who depend on the rent from their properties to support their own families.  We realize the chaos that nonpayment can put into their lives and their communities.  The last thing we want to see is a landlord lose their property over nonpayment.  That benefits no one.”

Board of Directors of the Apartment Owners Advisory Council Member Carol Danziger said: “I am thankful to Westchester County for setting up these programs aimed at helping tenants and landlords during this crisis. I’m a second-generation owner of a family-run small apartment building, like so many small business owners, COVID-19 took any financial problems we had and made them that much worse. After the financial hardships and unimaginable personal losses we’ve experienced, we are still here for our tenants if the needs arise, especially if anyone is struggling. But since we do basically everything ourselves and have no staff, there was no relief for us under the CARES Act previously, and we were quickly running out of options and flexibility. These subsidies and stabilization funds will help us remain steady while the public health emergency continues this fall.”

Fact Sheets and Applications (English and Spanish) for the programs are available on the County’s website at:  www.westchestergov.com/HousingHelp.

News courtesy of the Westchester County Executive Office

Filed Under: New Castle News, Surviving COVID-19 Tagged With: Community Build Back, COVID, emergency, families, Homelessness, landlords, tenant evictions, Westchester County

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