DHS Seeks to House 150 Unsheltered New Yorkers During Two-Day Event

DHS Commissioner Robert V. Hess, Former Jet Curtis Martin,
New Street Outreach Teams Engage Homeless

Department of Homeless Services (DHS) Commissioner Robert V. Hess kicked off the Third Annual Project Homeless Connect, a two-day event sponsored by DHS in collaboration with its non-profit providers Common Ground, Citizen's Advice Bureau and the Doe Fund. The event provides opportunities for individuals who are experiencing street homelessness to access housing placement options and other resources under one roof.  DHS has set a goal this year of placing 150 unsheltered homeless New Yorkers into housing during Project Homeless Connect. In addition to housing options such as supportive housing, Safe Havens, Section 8 vouchers with mental health case management services, stabilization and crisis beds and program shelters, Project Homeless Connect also provides services such as medical care, dental care, benefits assistance, meals, massages, hair cuts, clothing and personal hygiene items.

"One hundred and fifty people will be sleeping indoors, in a bed, this week, instead of on the street," said DHS Commissioner Hess. "Project Homeless Connect is a fantastic tool that helps us further reach our goal of reducing street homelessness."

Project Homeless Connect will be held over two days at three different locations - on December 5 in The Bronx and co-sponsored by Citizen's Advice Bureau; on December 5 in Brooklyn and co-sponsored by Common Ground; and on December 6 in Manhattan and co-sponsored by the Doe Fund.

Also joining Commissioner Hess were former New York Jet Curtis Martin, who has teamed up to help end City's homelessness in New York City, and representatives from street outreach teams.

"Over the past two decades, The Doe Fund has developed and implemented innovative programming designed to permanently end homelessness," George T. McDonald, founder and President of The Doe Fund, Inc., said. "Though paid work is at the core of our programs, we also provide comprehensive social services, education and vocational training. We're proud to partner with the city and to use our expertise to help people connect with the resources they need."

Common Ground and Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens simultaneously will assist more than 25 homeless adults in moving directly from streets into homes during Project Homeless Connect. "Our teams have identified those who have been on the street the longest and who are in the most fragile health," Rosanne Haggerty, founder and President of Common Ground, said. "With the resources secured for Project Homeless Connect and the help of our many volunteers, we will see that these vulnerable men and women at last return home."

This marks the first Project Homeless Connect since DHS redesigned its street outreach services in September. Four providers hold street homeless outreach contracts, resulting in a single point of accountability for each borough: Goddard Riverside Community Center in Manhattan, Common Ground Community in Brooklyn and Queens, Citizens Advice Bureau in The Bronx and Project Hospitality in Staten Island. Representatives from all four providers were present, along with officials from DHS' partners in its street outreach efforts, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, NYPD and Department of Sanitation.

The contracts are performance-based and include evidence-based practices such as the Housing First model. This model focuses on placing chronically homeless individuals in housing and then working on their mental health or substance issues rather than making placements contingent upon successfully addressing those issues, which often deter people who are chronically homeless from seeking housing. Outreach workers now use a new citywide data collection and analysis database featuring wireless handheld devices to access and input client information from the street. DHS also is expanding the low-threshold housing options that exist outside the shelter system that are so often embraced by people who are chronically homeless - Safe Havens and stabilization beds.

Project Homeless Connect can help New York City achieve the goal set forth in Mayor Michael Bloomberg's five year plan to reduce homelessness in New York City by two-thirds by 2009, Uniting for Solutions Beyond Shelter. Those experiencing homelessness can be moved more quickly toward housing and stability through initiatives such as Project Homeless Connect. New York City's Third Annual Project Homeless Connect ties in with the National Interagency Council on Homelessness' Project Homeless Connect Week December 3 - 7. More than 35 cities have replicated this model since it began in San Francisco three years ago.

DHS would like to thank the following companies and individuals for their generous support and donations: The Curtis Martin Job Foundation, Dr. Jack Demos, Surgicorps, The Clothing Bank of New York, The Bottomless Closet, The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, Visiting Nurses Association, The Students of St. John's Prep, Astoria, NY, Cristina Varriale, The Students of St. Brigid's, Watervliet, NY, Colleen Codden, The Ludlum Family, The McPeek Family, The Town of Glen Rock, NJ, Empire Beauty School, Jovan Zow on behalf of Super Runners and the Columbia University Dental School.