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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Catherine Trapani, Assistant Vice President for Public Policy at Volunteers of America Greater New York
3:55:33
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137 sec
Catherine Trapani from Volunteers of America Greater New York testified about the severe financial strain caused by late payments from New York City for human services contracts. She highlighted the urgent need for immediate action to address the $32 million owed to her organization and the broader impact on the nonprofit sector.
- Volunteers of America Greater New York is owed $32 million for services already rendered, including supportive housing, shelter, and economic empowerment services.
- The organization spent $1 million on their line of credit last year and projects spending $1.5 million in fiscal year 2025 due to late payments.
- Trapani called for a $500 million infusion into the returnable loan fund and immediate clearance of outstanding budget amendments to address the crisis.
Catherine Trapani
3:55:33
Good afternoon.
3:55:34
Thank you so much for your leadership and frankly for your patience on a very long hearing.
3:55:39
My name is Catherine Trepani.
3:55:41
I am the assistant vice president for public policy at Volunteers of America Greater New York.
3:55:46
I've submitted much lengthier testimony for the record, but for the sake of brevity I'm just gonna give you the highlights or in our case perhaps the lowlights.
3:55:54
We are owed $32,000,000 by the city of New York and payments for services already rendered for services such as supportive housing, shelter, and economic empowerment services.
3:56:06
We have spent last year $1,000,000 on our line of credit and are projected to spend $1,500,000 in fiscal twenty five.
3:56:17
The fiscal strain has become untenable and it has already impacted our ability to provide high quality services.
3:56:24
We've delayed the opening of one shelter, returned the contract for two more, and we still have not been able to give our staff much needed increases that were promised for them under the COLA initiative.
3:56:36
It's really unconscionable.
3:56:38
The following actions are needed immediately to preserve the sector and frankly our survival.
3:56:45
We need a huge infusion of cash in that returnable loan fund.
3:56:49
Our estimate is $500,000,000 The fact that $30,000,000 was characterized as healthy to me is offensive when I alone am owed $32,000,000 And the fact that the fund is underutilized is really not because there's not a need, but because we've submitted over 40 applications, six of which have been approved.
3:57:07
So the process is slow, it is limited, and it is very challenging.
3:57:10
And that's why we're forced to rely on private loans.
3:57:13
We also need to ensure that every outstanding budget amendment for the current and prior fiscal years is immediately cleared.
3:57:19
Everything for FY '26 is due tomorrow.
3:57:23
And so we want to make sure that our budgets for FY '26 are started with the true cost of doing business.
3:57:30
We also applaud the committee's efforts to get additional staffing for MOCs, DSS, DHS, DOHMH so that they have the infrastructure to do all of the good work.
3:57:41
Finally, I just express my support for the legislative solutions and believe that an 80% advance would go a huge long way to repairing these issues in the future.
3:57:49
Thank you very much.