LATE 2006: PTH LAUNCHES the Rental Subsidies Campaign

It became clear that DHS and HRA were lying to homeless folks and the media about the failures of the HSP program. Many PTH members were being harmed by these failures and knew that documenting what was happening would be up to PTH. It was also clear that recommendations to improve the rental subsidy program would have to come from people with direct experience with the subsidy program.

From April 2007 to October 2008 PTH members, volunteers and staff completed 500 in-depth surveys with New Yorkers in the following situations, in all 5 boroughs:

1. In homeless shelters and approved for a housing subsidy and looking for housing,

2. In housing subsidized by one of the rental subsidies program,

3. In shelter and in the process of applying for a subsidy,

4. Were homeless again because they had been evicted due to problems with their subsidy.

Additionally, PTH learned that shelter provider contracts included penalties for not moving a set number of families into housing, which sound good on the face of it, but which meant that families were forced into accepting sub-standard apartments that resulted in some returning to the shelter system.

PTH Rental Subsidies campaignprotest andcommunity education in front ofHRAforclosing publicassistance casesandforcing evictions of rental subsidyholders. Thiswasakeysite forsurvey collection.July6, 2007