United Way of New York City: Press Releases

THE COURTS, NYC DEPARTMENT OF HOMELESS SERVICES AND UNITED WAY OF NYC ANNOUNCE EXPANSION OF INNOVATIVE AND SUCCESSFUL BRONX COURT-BASED HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION PROGRAM TO BROOKLYN

NEW YORK, NY - City and Civil Court officials joined with United Way of New York City this morning to announce the expansion from the Bronx to Brooklyn of a remarkably successful court-based program to stop evictions and prevent homelessness -- Housing Help -- which operates currently out of Bronx Housing Court.

Launched by the United Way of New York City and Civil Court in January of 2005, Housing Help is an innovative three-year pilot initiative whose goals are:

From left: New York City Civil Court Administrative Judge Fern Fisher; Judge Jaya Madhaven, presiding judge for the designated Housing Help courtroom at Bronx Housing Court; Lawrence Mandell, United Way of New York City President and CEO; DHS Commissioner Robert V. Hess; HRA Commissioner Robert Doar; James Rausse, representing Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión, Jr.; Lloyd Brown, Executive Vice President, Bank of New York.

Today's announcement was made at a joint press conference in front of Bronx Housing Court by Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Robert V. Hess, Human Resources Administration Commissioner Robert Doar, United Way of New York City President and CEO Lawrence Mandell, Chief Administrative Judge of New York State Courts Judge Ann Pfau, Administrative Judge of the New York City Civil Court Fern Fisher and Joan Khoury, Managing Director and head of Corporate Philanthropy, Bank of New York, a major funder.

Judge Fisher said, "This project has established that using lawyers and social workers together to prevent needless evictions is successful and benefits families in crisis and helps prevent homelessness. The New York State Unified Court system is extremely pleased to see the expansion of the Housing Help Program thanks to the continued funding by United Way of New York City and infusion of additional funding by the NYC Department of Homeless Services. The Court system is happy to continue to partner with them to work toward ending homelessness throughout New York City."

"Today's announcement is the fulfillment of the vision we had four years ago," said Lawrence Mandell, President and CEO of United Way of New York City, "when we implemented a community action strategy, concentrating our funding on lead initiatives and programs in key action areas, one of which is affordable housing and homelessness prevention. It was our hope that new ideas and model programs could be expanded in partnership with the City, as is happening now, and eventually brought to scale. We are delighted at the resounding success of the program and by what expansion into Brooklyn will mean for hundreds of families who otherwise would likely lose their homes."

The Bronx and Brooklyn Housing Help programs funded by the United Way of New York City is now partnering with DHS. Evictions are one of the top reasons people end up in the city's homeless shelters. Nearly 50 percent of families entered shelter last year due to an eviction. Under the partnership, 1,000 clients will be served in addition to the 1,800 families and individuals DHS currently provides anti-eviction legal services to, through a contract with the Legal Aid Society. DHS will also be adding two new components to the program: the services of its homelessness prevention program HomeBase and the deployment of outreach workers to clients' homes. HomeBase will provide the extra support and services some families and individuals may need, whether they have an eviction case or not. Outreach workers will make home visits to provide support during legal proceedings.

"This innovative program is in line with Mayor Bloomberg's focus on homelessness prevention," said DHS Commissioner Robert V. Hess. "More families and individuals will be able to stay in their homes instead of a homeless shelter. By adding the services of New York City's homelessness prevention program HomeBase, clients who need it will receive extra support to remain housed."

"HRA is proud to be part of the Housing Help Program collaboration," said Commissioner Robert Doar. "This is another great example of our ongoing partnership with the Department of Homeless Services, as well as with the Court and community based organizations to provide the interventions needed to help New Yorkers achieve greater self-sufficiency."

Bank of New York and Mizuho Corporate Bank have provided generous financial support for Housing Help, noted United Way's Mandell.

The neighborhoods to be served in Brooklyn will be areas of high poverty where eviction proceedings are initiated at a high rate. They are in the process of being finalized.