Homelessness Hurts Women; Together We Can Prevent It

Homelessness primarily hurts women (and their families) and is intergenerational

Homelessness is primarily a story about women of color, disproportionately hurt by domestic violence, evictions and overcrowding in a city with a dearth of housing assistance. 

• Of the 90K people currently in shelters, 33K children account for almost two in five (38%); families account for 77% (90% headed by women); and, 95%+ identify as people of color.
• Less than half of children in shelter graduate high school, putting them at a heightened risk of future homelessness with their own children.
• Many women at risk of or experiencing homelessness live with complex trauma, due to histories of child abuse and/or domestic violence. Many have not had access to therapy.

Ending homelessness requires stepping in upstream and preventing women from losing their homes in the first place (with arrears assistance, rental vouchers and more affordable housing). Homelessness policy requires more than providing services to people living on the street or in shelters, after they lose their homes. Shelter numbers have steadily increased for decades because the number of people at risk of homelessness and entering the front door of the shelter system is greater than the number of people leaving shelter.

• New York’s homelessness story includes, less than one percent (4,000 people), experiencing street homelessness; 10 percent (90K) living in shelters and 90 percent (800K including 222K children; 1 in 5 city children) living in 317K homes in rental arrears, at risk of eviction. 

Prevention saves lives and money and is good for families, landlords and communities: 

• Saves money. The average NYC household rent arrears bill is $3,500 v. the cost of shelter provision for a family is approx. $100,000.  
• Saves landlords. Prevention saves landlords expensive housing court costs and processing time; rent payments facilitate landlords meeting mortgage payments and other building costs. 
• Saves and creates affordable housing. When a family loses their home, the cost of that home increases; saving homes retains affordability. Prevention also requires ongoing annual investments in the creation of new affordable housing to save the city’s stock of homes. 
• Saves and strengthens communities. When a family loses their home, they lose the stability and support of community, and communities and schools experience fracturing and instability. Saving homes facilitates community safety and development. 

The Partnership’s upstream intervention program model combines housing and crisis services with mental health, support and education programming to prevent people from losing their homes.  

Largely concentrated in low-income neighborhoods in the Bronx and Brooklyn, the majority of clients served are women and children of color with a variety of identities and experiences, including women-headed households, survivors of domestic and gender-based abuse, LGBTQIA+, immigrant and older New Yorkers.  

• In FY24 women’s households accounted for 86% of our clients;  
  • We saved 2,240 homes for 5,600 New Yorkers; the equivalent of a $216M savings in public spending on shelter. Households received crisis intervention, housing assistance, benefits navigation, referrals and intensive casework as needed via our Save Homes rental assistance program, Sound Homes mental health and well-being program and Safe Home rapid rehousing program (for New Yorkers who are losing their homes due to domestic and gender-based violence 
• Almost all (96%) clients identify as people of color
• More than two-thirds (68%) are working
• Older adults close to or in retirement account for 10%
• Almost two in five (78%) households are living below 30% of the Area Median Income (AMI);  97% are living below 50% of the AMI
• More than half (52%) of clients reside in the Bronx, while a quarter (23%) live in Brooklyn, 13% in Manhattan, 10% in Queens and 2% in Staten Island

Please partner with us to save women’s homes. You can make a difference.