Homeless Assistance Fund

A public-private initiative to provide services and mental health resources to New Yorkers experiencing homelessness.

Overview

In October 2022 the Partnership for New York City launched the Homeless Assistance Fund, a unique public-private initiative with the city and housing nonprofit Breaking Ground’s Connect to Care program.

Connect to Care supplements existing outreach programs with more intensive outreach and trust-building among New York City’s most vulnerable and entrenched homeless population and accelerates getting these individuals into treatment programs and housing. The program reaches those who have been unsheltered the longest, have the most disabling conditions, and are least likely to access housing resources.

Preliminary data shows Connect to Care can help someone experiencing homelessness access a transitional housing placement up to three times faster than standard city contracts.

Download the Q2 2024 data report Download the Year 1 initiative-wide data report

How It Works

The Homeless Assistance Fund has expanded Breaking Ground’s Connect to Care street outreach program with a focus on individuals experiencing street homelessness in Midtown, Lower Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn. Experienced case workers:

  • Provide direct care outreach, build trust and rapport with unsheltered individuals over time to understand their needs and better connect them to services
  • Develop individualized service plans for each person that includes benefits assistance, connection to harm reduction, detox or substance abuse, connection to mental health and medical care, and housing services
  • Transition homeless and mentally ill individuals into supportive care and housing

Success Stories

KC has frequented the Times Square area for the last four years and developed rapport with outreach teams who helped him moved inside in June 2023. KC quickly decided his placement was too far from where he normally spends his time, so the team referred him to a recently opened Breaking Ground safe haven facility in Manhattan. KC consistently stayed at his new placement and met with Breaking Ground staff, who submitted a supportive housing packet for him—his first since 2005.

Unfortunately, KC was arrested shortly after, pausing his housing process. Breaking Ground coordinated with his lawyers and appeared in court on his release date to ensure the team could continue supporting him. KC is now connected to a permanent housing opportunity and will be able to sign his lease once his benefits are reinstated.

The outreach team often saw AA in Lower Manhattan; he panhandled near 168 Church Street, a location frequently reported in ticket submissions. AA was open to speaking with the outreach team but reluctant to accept services due to negative experiences in the shelter system. Over the course of a year, the outreach team escorted AA to drop-in centers and then a safe haven facility, coordinated medication management services, and connected him to medical care.


In the winter, the team brought AA to a housing interview and to view a new building in the Bronx, and ultimately to his lease signing in the beginning of March! Now that AA has stable housing, Breaking Ground is working with his onsite team to install grab bars into his bathroom and applying for a home health aide. AA loves to cook and is happy to be back home making his own food. He already has plans for his daughter and grandchildren to visit.

Two months after first meeting JG, Breaking Ground connected him to a placement at a safe haven facility in Brooklyn. JG met with his case manager frequently, reinstated his benefits, saw the onsite psychiatrist, and resumed taking medication. Once his housing packet was completed, the team assisted him with three housing interviews. JG accepted the offer for placement at a newly-opened Breaking Ground supportive housing residence close to the park he likes to frequent.

After JG moved in, he expressed interest in receiving treatment for his struggles with substance use. Breaking Ground helped him locate a facility for detox and rehab, collected the needed documentation, arranged transportation, and notified the onsite housing team that JG was temporarily in treatment. JG returned to his apartment one month later and has been doing well since being home, highlighting the importance of Breaking Ground’s ongoing support even after clients move into permanent housing.

CA had been homeless in New York for over eight years and previously lived on the street in Florida. CA has worked with a handful of social service agencies in New York and was placed into multiple transitional housing placements but was never connected to permanent housing.

CA lives with a few mental health diagnoses. Breaking Ground connected CA with a mobile psychiatric team and referred him to a clubhouse specifically designed for people living with serious mental illnesses. Breaking Ground collaborated with the clubhouse staff to develop CA’s supportive housing packet and recently found a housing placement for him. Since signing his lease on June 17, CA has met with his onsite case manager, worked on finding additional therapists, and is now ready to focus on getting more gender-affirming care.

This effort is supported by charitable contributions of over $8M from more than 60 Partnership member companies.

Participating Companies

In the fall of 2022, as member companies were returning to their offices following a lifting of Covid restrictions, they recognized the urgent need of assistance for unsheltered New Yorkers requiring an array of support services. Wanting to be a part of the solution, these companies funded a special pilot of Breaking Ground’s Connect to Care program in select neighborhood clusters in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Impact as of June 2024

46,934

total contacts with people experiencing homelessness

36%

faster placement in housing compared to city-funded outreach teams

221

placements in shelters or transitional or permanent housing

“Pfizer appreciates this opportunity to help address homelessness in New York City. As a company founded and headquartered here, we have a deep commitment to the city and the health and wellbeing of its people. Partnerships such as this demonstrate the power of collaboration.”

Albert Bourla, Co-Chair, Partnership for New York City, and Chairman and CEO of Pfizer

 

“Tishman Speyer is proud to stand with the City of New York, Partnership for New York City, and other business leaders to support this vital initiative. We know that the health, safety and wellbeing of our fellow New Yorkers are key to the city’s future. The Homeless Assistance Fund will ensure more residents get the care they need.”

Rob Speyer, Co-Chair, Partnership for New York City, and President and CEO of Tishman Speyer

Participating Companies

Advance Publication/Condé Nast

Ainslie Foundation

Alex M. Farman-Farmaian

Apollo Global Management

Bank of America

BlackRock

Blackstone

Bloomberg LP

BNY

Brookfield Properties

Capital One

Carlyle

Centerbridge Partners

Chubb

Crown Castle

Cushman & Wakefield, Inc.

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

Deanna Mulligan, CEO, Purposeful

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

Deloitte

Empire State Realty Trust

Equitable

Ernst & Young LLP

Etsy, Inc.

Evercore Foundation

Fairstead

First Republic Bank

Fisher Brothers

FOX News Media & News Corporation

Glenwood

Global Atlantic Financial Group

Goldman Sachs Gives

Hearst

Hellman & Friedman LLC

Interpublic Group

JPMorgan Chase

KPMG LLP

Latham & Watkins LLP

Macy's, Inc

Marsh McLennan

Mastercard

McDonald's

MetLife

Mizuho Americas

Morgan Stanley

Neuberger Berman

New York Life

Newmark & GFP Real Estate

Paramount Group, Inc.

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Pfizer Inc.

PwC

Rockefeller Group

Ropes & Gray

Santander US

Sidley Austin LLP

Silver Lake

Silvercup Studios

Solomon Partners

SS&C Technologies

Take-Two Interactive

The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America

The Related Companies, L.P.

The Rudin Family

The Travelers Companies, Inc.

Tishman Speyer

Trinity Church Wall Street

Vornado Realty Trust

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

Warburg Pincus

Wells Fargo