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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Catherine Trapani, Representative of Volunteers of America Greater New York
4:02:50
·
144 sec
Catherine Trapani from Volunteers of America Greater New York addresses the NYC City Council on homeless services, late payments to service providers, and support for students in temporary housing. She highlights ongoing financial challenges and proposes budget priorities to improve services and support for vulnerable populations.
- Raises concern about $32 million in late payments to VOA and the ineffectiveness of the returnable grant fund
- Requests $500,000 from the Department of Education for Operation Backpack to support students in temporary housing
- Discusses the need for investment in supportive housing and expresses concern about potential rent increases for long-term CityFHEPS participants
Catherine Trapani
4:02:50
Thank you, Chair.
4:02:51
I appreciate it.
4:02:51
I'm Katherine Chapani.
4:02:53
I'm with Volunteers of America Greater New York, and we are one of the largest supportive housing and homeless services providers in New York City.
4:03:01
And I'm here today with gratitude to your work and to Deputy Speaker Ayala and Gail Brewer and all their other members of the council to just sort of talk through what has to happen with the homeless services safety net so that we can weather the storm for the next year.
4:03:15
I spoke with you at a rally recently about the late payment crisis.
4:03:19
I am depressed to say that VOA is still owed $32,000,000 and of the 51 returnable grant fund loans that we've put in, four have been approved so far.
4:03:30
So it's not the solution that the city sort of touted at the last hearing on this matter.
4:03:35
So a budget priority would be to ensure the returnable grant fund functions as described and can really ensure cash flow.
4:03:43
I also just want to take a minute to talk about the need to support students in temporary housing across New York City.
4:03:48
The homeless crisis continues to be a bad place, and a lot of children are going to start school next year without the supplies they need to start the day.
4:03:58
And that's because the Department of Education has yet to commit to funding Operation Backpack, which gives students in temporary housing access to the supplies they need before the first day of school so they can walk in the door and be fully prepared to succeed.
4:04:10
And so our ask would be a $500,000 contribution from the DOE to Operation Backpack.
4:04:17
I am grateful for the council for including the $2.50 in your budget response, but if we can nudge that number a little bit higher in the final, I think that would go a long way.
4:04:25
Finally, I want to talk about the need to invest in proven housing solutions.
4:04:30
We're grateful for the investment in the HRA indirect funding, which is going to shore up the infrastructure for supportive housing.
4:04:37
I'm grateful for the shift from the scattered to the congregate model to ensure that we have enough housing to meet the need.
4:04:43
But finally, I do just want to say that the CityFepps budget continues to concern me.
4:04:48
There is this sort of Trojan horse of a rule change coming through where there's going to be a rent hike for long term CitiFepps participants that will impact roughly 25% of the population.
4:04:58
So we hope that the council pushes back against that and really ensures that CitiFepps is fully funded for all voucher holders, both for today and for tomorrow.
4:05:07
And my written remarks certainly contain a lot more detail, but just really thank you for your ongoing advocacy and support of the sector.