1 in 3 NYC Tenants Spend Half Their Income on Rent

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When young people come through the doors of Covenant House, we always ensure they receive the immediate and long-term care they seek, with absolute respect and unconditional love. Once a young person is with us, we develop an individual plan, which often includes the challenge of finding affordable housing.

"At Covenant House, we care for over 2,000 young people each night overcoming homelessness who are highly motivated and pursuing their promise and their dreams,” said Covenant House President & CEO Bill Bedrossian. “In addition to providing vital services today, we need to change laws, policies, and practices that lead to youth and young families becoming homeless in the first place. For example, when young people leave Covenant House, there needs to be places where they can actually afford to live. It is our moral obligation as a society to make affordable housing a priority for all."

The article in the Gothamist we’re sharing today cites specific solutions that could make a big impact, particularly in the lives of our young people as they leave Covenant House:

"They are also calling for more deeply affordable development and housing solutions, like new cooperatives and nonprofit-owned community land trusts, where residents pay no more than 30% of their income each month.

HPD spokesperson William Fowler said the city is trying to make apartments affordable to more New Yorkers by expanding access to housing vouchers, increasing the number of units reserved for homeless residents and proposing new rules to fuel construction."

Here is a link to the full Gothamist article:

https://gothamist.com/news/1-in-3-nyc-tenants-spend-half-their-income-on-rent-as-affordability-crisis-deepens