After years of hard work and advocacy, we successfully secured in the 2025-26 state budget a critical funding increase for New York’s original supportive housing program.
Before that, the New York State Supportive Housing Program (NYSSHP) hadn’t seen a significant revenue boost since its inception in 1987. The $17.8 million increase, a total boost of up to 40%, will go a long way toward addressing deteriorating building infrastructure, rising operating costs, and critical staff shortages for nonprofit providers statewide.
The money going out the door now will provide enhanced funding rates for NYSSHP programs most at risk of closing, enabling hundreds of individuals and families — many of them older adults and families with children — to stay safety and stably housed.
Unfortunately, this increase wasn’t enough to undo all the harm inflicted by decades of chronic disinvestment. It was a bit more than half of the $32 million the Supportive Housing Network of New York (The Network) sought for year one of a five-year plan to bring fiscal parity to supportive housing units statewide.
We must do more to address the ongoing homelessness, mental health, and substance use crises that continue to grip our state. And proof of the positive impact that increased funding can have on tenants and supportive housing providers across New York is clear.
Just last month, YWCA NorthEastern NY broke ground on a $50 million project to upgrade 35 existing units and build 54 new ones. Enhanced NYSSHP funding will bring the YWCA’s program budget to $30,000 a month from $10,000. That will help bring on-site services like case management, mental health support, and job training to help address the underlying causes of homelessness and keep residents housed.
In the Bronx, enhanced NYSSHP funding is going to Grandparents Family Apartment (GFA) program, run by the West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing (WSFSSH). With this additional revenue, GFA is hiring permanent social workers to support both the older adults and children in their care.
New Destiny, New York City’s leading developer of supportive and affordable housing for domestic violence survivors and their children, used its enhanced NYSSHP funds to hire additional staff and to lower case management ratios from an unsustainable one case worker for every 56 residents. This is incredibly positive, but NYSSHP still doesn’t cover full-time building security for tenants, most of whom fled dangerous situations, or the additional clinical care survivors need to heal and thrive.
The hard truth is that the increased funding is coming too late for some. Since 2003, one-third of NYSSHP-only funded units have been lost as providers merged or closed their doors. Dozens closed just last year. Without decisive action in this year’s budget, nearly 10,000 NYSSHP-only funded households remain at risk.
The Network calculates that NYSSHP needs an additional $62.1 million this year to meet tenant needs and stabilize the program statewide. This funding is not optional — it is essential.
Housing is a human right. It is the foundation upon which health, education, and opportunity are all built. As budget negotiations continue, we will fight to ensure NYSSHP’s needs are fully addressed, particularly given its disappointing omission from Gov. Hochul’s Executive Budget.
For the sake of the older adults, children, families, and all the vulnerable constituents we represent, we urge our colleagues to join us.
Cleare represents parts of Manhattan in the state Senate and chairs the Senate Committee on Aging. Hevesi represents parts of Queens in the Assembly and chairs the Assembly’s Standing Committee on Children and Families.
