TESTIMONY
Gabriela Sandoval Regana on Addressing Domestic Violence and Housing Instability Through Policy and Advocacy Efforts
5:00:44
·
151 sec
Gabriela Sandoval Regana highlights New Destiny's mission to combat the dual crises of domestic violence and housing instability for survivors.
- Sandoval Regana discusses New Destiny's role in developing supportive housing for domestic violence survivors and advocating for additional housing resources.
- She emphasizes the grave statistics of domestic violence in NYC, noting a domestic violence report every two minutes in 2022 according to the NYPD.
- The testimony outlines the necessity of safe and affordable permanent housing for survivors to leave their abusers and rebuild their lives.
- Concerns are raised about the Human Resources Administration's limited capacity affecting survivors' housing transitions and the advocacy for funding the housing stability microgrant program.
- Sandoval Regana calls for administrative solutions to improve access to affordable housing for survivors at no additional city cost.
Gabriela Sandoval Regana
5:00:44
Good afternoon.
5:00:46
Committee chair Ayala, and committee staff.
5:00:48
Thank you for holding this hearing and for the opportunity to testify on behalf of the Destiny Housing.
5:00:54
My name is Gabriela Sandoval Regana.
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And I am the Director of Policy And Communications at New Destiny.
5:01:00
Our mission is to end the double trauma of abuse and homelessness among the missing violence survivors We do this by developing supportive housing for survivors and shelter, assisting those who are fleeing abuse, obtaining subsidies, and find safe new homes.
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And advocating for new housing resources.
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New Destiny is also a co convener of the family homelessness coalition, as well as a member of the supportive housing network of New York.
5:01:24
Why do we do this work?
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Because despite the fact that only 50% of domestic violence cases are reported, the NYPD filed 1 domestic violence incident report every 2 minutes in 2022.
5:01:36
In other words, since this meeting started, This hearing started more than 150 survivors called the police to file a situation of abuse, and countless others went silent.
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Because of domestic violence, thousands continue to enter shelter system in New York City.
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We know that access to safe and affordable permanent housing will determine whether survivors leave their abuser and rebuild their lives.
5:02:01
We will submit extended written testimony.
5:02:03
So I just wanted to use this time to highlight our 5 key takeaways.
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First, we're deeply concerned with HRA's limited capacity, which has delayed check processing times.
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Slowed moves from shelter to permanent housing and impacted the success of rental assistance programs.
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2nd, we call on the administration and the council to please fund the housing stability program for survivors of domestic violence, also known as the microgram program, as $6,000,000 in fiscal year 2025.
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Additionally, we want to call attention to 2 administrative solutions that will improve timely access to affordable housing and not cost the city anything.
5:02:40
One is to allow survivors of domestic violence to access HPD homeless homicide units as the mayor promised on the housing or neighbor's blueprint back in 2022 and open city funded supportive housing to domestic violence survivors and their children who are not currently eligible for NYC-fifteen fifteen.
5:02:58
New Destiny last but not least, New Destiny also supports the network's recommendation to improve NYC 1515 with the housing vacancy rate at 1.4% the city must develop additional congregate units above the original commitment of 7500 homes.
5:03:13
Thank you so much for your time.
