Opinion: Permanent Supportive Housing Is Key to Solving Homelessness

Mayor Adams has committed to providing temporary housing to New Yorkers with severe mental illness but the city requirements more supportive SROs to prevent a worsening homelessness problem A supportive SRO on W nd Street run by St Francis Friends of the Poor Jeremy Amar Homelessness among mentally ill New Yorkers is dire and growing and the city continues to overlook the organizations capable of addressing it Despite continued efforts the number of unhoused individuals keeps rising shelters are over limit and more people than ever are living on the streets So what can we do In January Mayor Adams made a million financing to provide temporary housing to patients with severe mental illness The resources includes the addition of hundreds of shelter beds and funding for a new NYC Vitality Hospitals Bridge to Home undertaking This operation provides rooms meals recreation therapy and other assistance to mentally ill New Yorkers for a period of six to months Then unhoused residents will be transitioned into permanent supportive housing However there is no mention of outlay into such permanent supportive housing particularly the kind designed to serve those living with serious mental illness As of July more than people were sleeping in NYC s shelters not counting the thousands forced to live in populace spaces Mental strength disorders are up to four times more common among the homeless causing those with serious mental illness to cycle between shelters jails and hospitals due to a lack of stable housing The city s failure to provide the right housing options has created a ripple effect Urgency rooms are overcrowded with psychiatric cases law enforcement is stretched thin responding to mental vitality crises and social services are overwhelmed Without real solutions chronic homelessness will continue to rise and more people will lose their lives to preventable tragedies A key step in addressing this emergency is restoring patronage and funding for single-room occupancy SRO housing and easing the creation of permanent supportive housing for unhoused people living with serious mental illness For years SROs served as an essential form of housing for low-income individuals including those with serious mental illness These units small private rooms with shared common spaces were an affordable way to offer safe affordable housing to those in need But decades ago zoning changes and urban renewal policies led to their systematic removal worsening the present day s emergency while gutting the city s affordable housing stock Unlike traditional apartments supportive SROs provide the simplicity that countless individuals with serious mental illness need to maintain stability and focus on recovery Supportive housing offers on-site services like psychiatric care medication management and episode management services that are essential for keeping residents housed long-term SROs are a cost-effective scalable model that could provide immediate relief for those who desperately need a stable place to live However past concerns about isolating people with mental illness have led to policies that discourage percent supportive housing in favor of mixed-population models Under current requirements developments must follow a model where percent of units are reserved for people with special demands such as those with serious mental illness while percent are allocated to affordable housing While this approach works for a few it is not suitable for all Countless people with serious mental illness do best in environments surrounded by peers with access to supportive services tailored to their demands The worsening homeless problem especially among those with serious mental illness requires urgent focused solutions First the city must remove outdated zoning walls and aid the return of SROs to make it feasible to build deeply affordable housing again Second we must expand percent permanent supportive housing that offers on-site services structure and public allowing people with serious mental illness to live and recover together Without this financing even well-intentioned efforts in shelters and temporary housing will fall short New York City cannot afford to delay By prioritizing SROs and the creation of more permanent supportive housing as a specialized cure for people living with serious mental illness the city can address homelessness in a meaningful way Housing is not just a plan issue it is a matter of life and death It is time to act Christina Byrne is executive director and Linda Flores is growth and communications manager of St Francis Friends of the Poor The post Opinion Permanent Supportive Housing Is Key to Solving Homelessness appeared first on City Limits