COVID-19 Services and Resources
The Partnership’s services remain fully operational during the COVID-19 pandemic. To keep our clients safe, we are conducting all meetings and groups virtually and via phone. For information on the following services or to speak with our program team, please call 212-645-3444 or email cmann@pfth.org or rhenry@pfth.org
Our Services Include:
Housing and Eviction Prevention
- Financial assistance for rental arrears
- Housing counseling and landlord mediation
- Legal referrals to our trusted community-based legal partners
- Support with housing vouchers and connections to available, affordable apartments through our relationships with landlords across the city
Health and Mental Health Services
- Individual counseling
- Connections to therapeutic services for low-income New Yorkers
- HIV support services
- Referrals for primary care and long-term mental-health providers
Emergency Services
- Benefits analysis to ensure income-related supports are maximized, and related referrals
- Shelter referrals
- Emergency food via partnership with FEMA and local soup kitchens/food pantries
Support Groups
- HIV health education workshop
- Financial education and tenants’ rights/responsibilities workshops
- LGBTQIA+ support group
- Parents support group
- Mental health and grieving support groups
HOUSING
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, note the following changes in NY’s housing systems and relevant contacts for further assistance and information:
Housing Court
Currently, all residential evictions are suspended. Video hearings are still being scheduled if both sides (landlord and tenant) agree. Housing Court will still accept applications for the following types of emergency cases: post-eviction relief, landlord lockouts, emergency apartment repairs, and serious repair orders. To start an emergency case, call or email the clerk in your county (see below). All documentation can now be submitted electronically or over the phone.
Housing Court Office
Emergency phone number to start a case
Email address used to join a virtual appearance
- Bronx Civil and Housing
718-618-2500
Email address for virtual appearances: CIVBXHS-SKYPE-VC@NYCOURTS.GOV - Harlem Community Justice Center
646-386-5409
Email address for virtual appearances: CIVNYC-SKYPE-VC@NYCOURTS.GOV - Kings (Brooklyn) Civil and Housing
347-404-9133
Email address for virtual appearances: CIVKIN-SKYPE-VC@NYCOURTS.GOV - New York (Manhattan) Civil and Housing
646-386-5730
Email address for virtual appearances: CIVNYC-SKYPE-VC@NYCOURTS.GOV - Queens Civil and Housing
718-262-7300
Email address for virtual appearances: CIVQNS-SKYPE-VC@NYCOURTS.GOV - Richmond (Staten Island) Civil and Housing
646-386-5409
Email address for virtual appearances: CIVRIC-SKYPE-VC@NYCOURTS.GOV
Residential Evictions
Landlords cannot change your locks, shut off your utilities, or remove your belongings as long as the eviction moratorium persists. This constitutes an illegal eviction. Give The Partnership a call at 212-645-3444 if you think you have experienced an illegal eviction. City Marshals are also not allowed to execute a warrant of eviction. You can report an incorrect execution of eviction by calling 212-825-5953. Click here for more information.
Mortgages
While there has been much debate over the type and duration of assistance for renters due to COVID-19, New York State has offered guidance for those with mortgages coping with the crisis. Click here for rules NYS has given mortgage servicers regarding borrowers impacted by the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Resources for NYCHA and Section 8 Residents
All in-person NYCHA hearings will be rescheduled. HPD Section 8 tenants up for termination will have their termination suspended until further notice. NYCHA Section 8 tenants up for termination will have their termination suspended until May 15, 2020.
Note: If you have experienced a loss of income during this time, report this loss to NYCHA through the self-service portal here or by calling 718-707-7771 so that your rental portion can be reduced. Non-emergency repairs (inspections and scheduled maintenance) as well as planned outages have also been suspended. For emergency repairs, call 718-707-7771. Additional information for NYCHA residents is available here.
Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exception (SCRIE) and Disability Rent Increase Exception (DRIE) (Important changes)
This program helps eligible senior citizens (aged 62 and over) and tenants with qualifying disabilities (aged 18 and over) stay in affordable housing by freezing their rent. Under this program, a property tax credit covers the difference between the actual rent amount and what you (the tenant) are responsible for paying at the frozen rate. The SCRIE and DRIE processing units are still working during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, processing time can last up to few weeks. You can access answers to their most frequently asked questions online here.
Emergency Shelter
The NYC municipal shelter system access points have not changed and are listed below. In light of concerns about coronavirus outbreaks in shelters, the City is offering isolation rooms for those exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, as well as hotel rooms for medically vulnerable populations.
Municipal Shelter Intake Centers
If you are entering shelter housing, there are specific intake centers to use, based on your circumstance. See below for the option that best suits your situation.
Families
Families with Children (under 18)
Prevention Assistance and Temporary Housing Office (PATH)
151 E. 151st St. (corner of Walton), Bronx 844-347-7284
Subway: 2, 4, 5 to 149th St. Open 24 hours, 7 days a week
Adult Families
30th Street Men’s Shelter/ Bellevue Assessment Center
400 E. 30th St. (at 1st Ave.), Manhattan M23 Select Bus Service to 23rd and 1st. Services include evaluation, program enrollment and referrals. Open 24 hours, 7 days a week
Single Adults
Adult Women
HELP Women’s Shelter
116 Williams Ave. (between Liberty & Glenmore Aves.), Brooklyn Subway: C to Liberty Ave. Open 24hrs. Women only, no children
Franklin Women’s Shelter
1122 Franklin Ave. (E. 166th St.), Bronx Subway: 2, 4, 5 to 149th St., and then #55 bus to 166th St. & 3rd Ave. Open 24hrs. Women only, no children
Adult Men
30th Street Men’s Shelter/ Bellevue Assessment Center
400 E. 30th St. (at 1st Ave.), Manhattan M23 Select Bus Service to 23rd and 1st. Services include evaluation, program enrollment and referrals. Open 24 hours, 7 days a week
BENEFITS
The City has moved its communications with the public to the phone and the internet. The most up-to-date information we have regarding how to access benefits is below.
Access to Benefits Helpline
The Access to Benefits (A2B) Helpline assists with employment and unemployment benefits, Medicaid/health law, SNAP, public assistance, disability, and other benefits. Call 888-663-6880 Monday – Friday from 10 am to 3 pm.
Public Assistance In-Person Appointments
All in-person public assistance cases have been cancelled. HRA recommends that the public use the ACCESS HRA website instead. There, you will be able to get help for many services normally accessed in person, including SNAP benefits, cash assistance and case management.
Social Security Administration Offices
The Social Security Administration has closed its offices, and is calling those with a hearing scheduled to discuss other options. You may also access critical services by clicking ssa.gov/coronavirus.
Medicaid and Health Insurance
Anyone without health insurance, including those who are undocumented, can enroll in Medicaid and other plans by calling 855-355-5777 or visiting the New York State of Health website. Emergency Medicaid now covers all testing, evaluation, and treatment for COVID-19.
Additionally, all low-income New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status, can access free or low-cost health care at New York City Health + Hospitals locations. Anyone who is uninsured can enroll in the Health + Hospitals Options program at 844-NYC-4NYC.
EMERGENCY FOOD ASSISTANCE
Click here for Food Bank for NYC’s interactive map for finding help with finding soup kitchens, food pantries, and more.
CRISIS
Lifenet 1-800-543-3638, 24 hrs. Suicide prevention and crisis intervention hotline, mental health and substance abuse information
Safe Horizon 1-800-621-4673, 24 hrs. Domestic violence, rape and sexual assault hotline
SUBSTANCE ABUSE
NCS’s Chance for Change Outpatient Substance Use Treatment Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church 921 Madison Ave. (at 73rd St.) Monday–Friday: 9:00am–5:00pm call for information: 917-677-0723
AA Intergroup 212-647-1680 Call 24 hours/day for information on AA meetings and available detox beds
New York City unfortunately is now the epicenter of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States and rushing to respond to the crisis. This week, we have been urged to “stay at home,” but complying with that directive comes with the prerequisite of having a home.
The Partnership to End Homelessness, for 38 years, has been committed to preventing homelessness and bringing stability of home back into people’s lives. Yet, in these incredibly uncertain times, the global pandemic is fostering formidable challenges that are testing all of us.
We remain steadfast in our support. We may be working remotely, but our services and support are unwavering: The Partnership to End Homelessness is working harder than ever to ensure that our most vulnerable neighbors stay safe and stay in homes.
In response to the pandemic and our city’s shutdown, our efforts are focused on preventing heightened exposure to the virus of New Yorkers experiencing, at risk of, or recovering from homelessness, stopping evictions and homelessness for the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers losing their livelihoods, and preventing emotional distress for low-income families and individuals throughout the city.
Approximately 65,000 of our fellow city residents do not have stable housing. Indeed, for the estimated 3,500 city residents living on our streets and the more than 60,000, including 22,000 children, in shelters across the five boroughs, “physical distancing” is an unattainable luxury. For many, particularly people sleeping on the streets or in congregate and crowded settings, sleeping, eating, and bathing come with the type of social proximity that the rest of us are being told to avoid.
Our fellow New Yorkers sleeping on city streets lack reliable access to handwashing and sanitary facilities (particularly now that so many businesses have closed down), as well as food and other means of survival. Now that emergency food programs cannot provide meals in congregate settings, those who typically frequent soup kitchens must rely on take-out options and eat on the street.
Even the coins normally provided by passersby have all but stopped as many people stay home and those who are outside dutifully give others a wide berth. And, many of those who are experiencing homelessness already are confronting underlying medical conditions and a lack of access to health care.
We need our Federal, State, and City governments to step in now as they have never done before.
The lack of safe, affordable housing is the primary reason people experiencing homelessness are at heightened risk. In the near-term, all efforts must be made to safeguard people experiencing homelessness in available apartments. As the city rebuilds in the wake of the pandemic, increasing the supply of affordable housing to safeguard all city residents into the future should be a key component of any recovery plan.
Tests must immediately be made available to all of those living and working in congregate settings, such as homeless shelters, to quickly identify and provide care and treatment to those with COVID-19, while simultaneously curtailing the spread and safeguarding the well-being of other residents and staff.
If there is any hope of keeping entire shelter populations from falling ill, staff must be able to identify which residents—and staff—need immediate treatment to slow the spread of the virus. Now that testing is more available in our city, it must immediately be deployed at all homeless shelters. Similarly, shelter staff and residents must be prioritized for access to masks and other protective clothes and equipment as adequate supplies become available.
For many low- and medium-income workers and independent contractors, particularly in the retail and services sectors, working from home is not an option; staying home means being laid off and losing one’s entire income. Approximately 43% of low-wage workers have savings of less than $500, and less than 50% receive vacation time, which only acts as a short-term solution for lost wages. Even by the last weekend in March, unemployment was spiraling. Effectively, hundreds of thousands of city households are set to fall into arrears as early as April.
While the eviction moratorium enacted by New York State is vital for saving lives in the months ahead, the city will be hit by a tsunami of evictions unless emergency Federal, State and City measures are enacted immediately to replace lost income to individuals, subsidize small business and nonprofits, and provide increased funding for eviction prevention programs.
We urge all levels of government to build an emergency response that will focus on putting money into the hands of precarious workers—low-wage, gig-economy, immigrant, and undocumented—who will lose their homes without immediate, lasting support. Help people to pay down their rent and utility arrears before accruals become unsurmountable. Help nonprofit organizations like The Partnership to do what we all do best: identify people who are moving rapidly toward homelessness and provide them with the financial support to remain stable and in their homes. Given that 78% of American workers live paycheck-to-paycheck, this support needs to flow now; authorizing support for April will not be soon enough.
Finally, we are all encountering unbearable strain on our resolve. As noted by New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, “the stress, the anxiety, the emotions that are provoked by this crisis are truly significant, and people are struggling with the emotions as much as they are struggling with the economics.”
We recognize that the weeks and months ahead will test us like never before as we adjust to this new normal. While most of us are now isolating ourselves in our homes, many others are struggling to find safe spaces.
Like other organizations, The Partnership’s staff and operations have now shifted to remote access and are committed to connecting with those who need us most: our mental health and emotional well-being program is now offered to all clients via phone and video calls.
We continue to offer our clients the same level of care and support that we always have. Our team is working regular business hours—daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.—and proactively contacting all clients to monitor health and other needs and provide needed services.
You may email info@pfth.org or call 212.645.3444 ext. 2237. We are here for you, New York!
If you want the most updated information about the unfolding crisis, you should text COVID to 692-692 or call the New York State Department of Health’s coronavirus hotline at 1-888-364-3065, visit the Department of Health’s website, or download the NYC Notify app.