New York City has launched a pilot program dedicated to connecting domestic violence survivors with permanent housing, officials said Monday.
Known as “Project Home,” the program will initially serve 100 families with children who have been living in Department of Homeless Services shelters due to domestic violence, Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference.
What You Need To Know
- New York City has launched a pilot program dedicated to connecting domestic violence survivors with permanent housing
- Known as "Project Home," the program will initially serve 100 families with children who have been living in Department of Homeless Services shelters due to domestic violence
- As part of the program, the city will make families staying in Human Resources Administration domestic violence shelters eligible for Housing Preservation and Development affordable housing
The families, who will be selected at random from a group of “eligible households,” will receive “intensive, specialized housing search assistance,” City Hall said in a press release.
“Imagine coming home afraid to walk into your home because someone’s there that’s going to physically, verbally abuse you,” Adams said at a news conference. “That is so traumatic, because home is your safety, and for far too many, they are not experiencing that safety.”
As part of the program, the city will make families staying in Human Resources Administration domestic violence shelters eligible for Housing Preservation and Development affordable housing, Department of Social Services Commissioner Molly Wasow Park said at the news conference. Previously, HPD units had been limited to those staying in DHS shelters, she said.
The city will also expand eligibility for city-supportive housing beyond those with serious mental health and substance abuse issues to include domestic violence survivors and their families, Wasow Park said.
The pilot program is part of the city’s “Women Forward NYC” initiative, which Adams unveiled earlier this year. The city is launching it in partnership with New Destiny Housing, a New York City-based nonprofit that provides domestic violence survivors with housing and services.
The program will be funded by a $300,000 grant from the NYC Fund to End Youth & Family Homelessness, according to City Hall’s release.
“Too often, domestic violence survivors end up in shelters, as they are forced to leave their homes,” Adams said. “No one should have to experience this, and no one should have to go through this, and no one should have to live in pain and fear every day.”