Drop-In Centers a Key Part of City’s Plan to Reduce Street Homelessness by Two-Thirds

August 26, 2004 – Department of Homeless Services (DHS) Commissioner Linda Gibbs today joined Bowery Residents’ Committee (BRC) Executive Director Muzzy Rosenblatt to announce the latest addition to the city’s network of homeless drop-in centers.  BRC’s Project Rescue Drop-In Center is now open 24 hours a day, seven days a week in its new home, the renovated Palace Hotel, a multi-service center for homeless and formerly homeless men and women located in the Bowery.  The rededication of the Palace comes just two months after Mayor Bloomberg released Uniting for Solutions Beyond Shelter, a five-year action plan to address homelessness, and announced the goal of reducing the city’s street homelessness population by two-thirds.  Also attending the announcement was Charles Raymond, president of Citigroup Foundation, Constance Tempel, managing director of the Corporation for Supportive Housing, and a number of formerly homeless individuals.

“With the opening of the new Project Rescue Drop-In Center, the city now has 10 drop-in centers citywide specifically designed to help chronically street homeless individuals leave the streets for shelter and other supportive environments,” noted DHS Commissioner Linda Gibbs.  “Despite tremendous gains in reducing street homelessness over the past decades, far too many individuals remain outside.  The drop-in center model, which has proven effective in encouraging even the most resistant individuals to take small steps toward a better life, is a critical resource in reducing street homelessness in New York City.”

Located in the Palace Hotel, a former flophouse at 315 Bowery, the Project Rescue Drop-In Center will provide 24/7 services to as many as 117 street homeless individuals a day.  Street homeless men and women will be able to receive meals, showers, clean clothes, on-site medical care including OB-GYN examination and HIV testing, access to detoxification and long-term rehabilitation services, psychiatric referrals, shelter and housing referrals, assistance in obtaining entitlements, and vocational training.  The program receives funding from the NYC Department of Homeless Services and the United States Health and Human Services Bureau of Primary Healthcare. In addition to the Project Rescue Drop-In Center, the Palace Hotel provides a continuum of care under one roof, including transitional housing, vocational services, and 24 supported Single Room Occupancy (SRO) rental apartments to formerly homeless men and women.

“We endorse the Mayor’s belief that no one needs to live on city streets – and the mix of services at Project Rescue are all aimed at helping people transition off the streets,” said Muzzy Rosenblatt, executive director of the Bowery Residents’ Committee, which among other services, operates the 311 mobile outreach team for the City of New York. “Street homelessness is a situation we know how to solve, and that is what we at BRC do every day.”

Chip Raymond, president of the Citigroup Foundation said, “We are a longstanding supporter of the Bowery Residents' Committee. We are honored to be part of today’s event and look forward to continuing our work with this valuable organization.”

The city’s five-year action plan, Uniting for Solutions Beyond Shelter, represents a first-ever effort to bring together the public, nonprofit, and business sectors in a coordinated campaign to end homelessness in New York City.  The action plan aims to shift the city’s response away from simply sheltering homeless individuals and families to prevention, supportive housing, and other interventions that solve homelessness. For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/endinghomelessness.

The renovation of the Palace Hotel was funded by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the New York State Office of Temporary Disability Assistance, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, with pre-development support from the Corporation for Supportive Housing.