Fund supportive housing programs
I could not agree more with the editorial “Unequal support,” Nov. 15, which highlighted the illogical funding disparity between two supportive housing programs that have put 9,000 units at risk of closing at a time when the state can ill afford to lose a single one.
As a supportive housing provider, I see firsthand the damage inflicted on both our tenants and staff by the chronically under-resourced New York State Supportive Housing Program, which hasn’t seen a significant funding increase since its creation three decades ago. Converting the endangered NYSSHP units to the better-funded Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative is a simple fix that the governor and legislative leaders should pursue in the 2024-25 state budget.
But, even that, as the editorial rightly notes, is only a short-term, partial solution to a much broader problem. The truth is that ALL supportive housing programs need more resources to address multiple challenges — homelessness, opioids and deadly illicit drug supply, and meeting the mental health needs of New Yorkers.
At a time when tenants need more services and support than ever and providers are facing a significant labor shortage, the state’s political leaders must step up and help our state’s most vulnerable residents.
I stand ready to work with those leaders to ensure providers can fulfill our critical mission of combating homelessness, with the funding required to ensure our tenants stay housed.
Starletta Renee Washington Troy Executive director, YWCA of the Greater Capital Region
A bad site for Saratoga Springs homeless shelter
The article “Spa panel recommends site for homeless shelter,” Dec. 1, notes that the Saratoga Springs Homeless Task Force has decided to put a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week shelter on Lake Avenue between the Northway overpass and Stewart’s Shop at the corner of Gilbert Road.
This is a terrible plan.
One might think that a shelter would be accessible to the population it is to serve. The suggested location is more than two miles from downtown, the area where most of this population stays. How are they supposed to access the shelter? Are they expected to walk in all weather regardless of health and mobility issues?
I live off Lake Avenue in that area. We have asked for sidewalks in the past, instead we got bike lanes that just stop near the underpass. (These lanes are not heavily used at all). Lake, however, is heavily traveled especially in track season. It is not a good place to walk.
This site was ranked the lowest but still was chosen. It is hard to think the members voting for this have any concept or sympathy for the homeless in Saratoga Springs. It is even harder not to think it is an effort to get the homeless out of the city.
I agree with committee member Hannah Hurley who voiced real concerns, as the article reported. I am appalled that she was ignored. I beseech the council in January to veto this site.
Janet St. Clair Saratoga Springs