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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Alison Wilkey, Director of Government Affairs and Strategic Campaigns at Coalition for the Homeless
5:31:28
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133 sec
Alison Wilkey from the Coalition for the Homeless testifies about the severe homelessness crisis in New York City, emphasizing the urgent need for affordable housing and increased funding for housing programs. She highlights the mismatch between available housing and the needs of extremely low-income (ELI) households.
- Wilkey reports that there are 350,000 homeless households in NYC, including 120,000 people in shelters and over 200,000 doubled-up households.
- She urges the council to allocate $1.25 billion from the City of Yes plan for housing homeless and ELI families, and $215 million for expanding City FEPS in the community.
- Wilkey emphasizes the need for a citywide rent arrears program to prevent homelessness and keep people in their homes.
Alison Wilkey
5:31:28
Hi, my name is Alison Wilke.
5:31:30
I'm the director of government affairs and strategic campaigns with Coalition for the Homeless.
5:31:34
Thank you Chair Sanchez for doing two full time jobs simultaneously today and doing it ably.
5:31:41
So we have a homelessness crisis that is just beyond all thinking.
5:31:46
We have 350,000 homeless households.
5:31:49
That includes 120,000 people living in shelter at this moment, thousands who are unsheltered, and over 200,000 households who were doubled and tripled up in homes.
5:32:01
In 2024 alone, the number of longer term New Yorkers, so not counting asylum seekers in shelter increased by 12%.
5:32:12
So we're seeing a significant increase and it's directly because of the lack of affordable housing.
5:32:18
There are 820,000 ELI households in New York City, but there's a serious mismatch of the available housing.
5:32:26
So for any LI household, a family of three, you would need rent that's about ten fifty to not be rent burdened, but only 7% of vacant units rent for less than $1,100 a month, while 65 of rent burdened New Yorkers need housing at that price.
5:32:44
So we have to focus on building housing for homeless and ELI households and we're really urging the council to stand firm on the commitment in the City of Yes plan.
5:32:57
There's $2,000,000,000 allocated there.
5:32:59
We're asking for $1,250,000,000 to go specifically towards homeless and ELI families, improving that ELA term sheet so we're really reaching the deepest affordability.
5:33:12
In addition to that, we are also asking that the council fulfill the commitment on City for Yes for the $215,000,000 for expansion of City FEP in the community.
5:33:24
And we do have a citywide rent arrears program that's substantially funded by the council, but we turn people away, at least 25% of people who come to us, because they can't afford the rent moving forward.
5:33:36
Having a city Pheps in the community program would allow us to keep those folks in their homes.