New York City Offers $4,000 to Migrants in Shelters to Help Secure Permanent Housing
New York City has implemented a program that provides migrants living in shelters with financial assistance of $4,000 to help them secure permanent housing.
According to a report by Fox News, the New York City Department of Homeless Services (DHS) has offered this assistance to 150 families through the Asylee Moveout Assistance program. This program, launched at the end of last year, aims to help asylum seekers in the US move out of city shelters.
Under this program, DHS officials provided $4,000 to eligible households, which can be used for security deposits, moving expenses, rent, or other necessary costs. Those who receive the grant are required to document all their expenses.
“The city is using every tool at its disposal to implement innovative and cost-effective solutions to help recently-arrived asylum seekers residing in shelters take the next steps in their journey,” said a spokesperson for the Department of Social Services (DSS). “Since December, DSS has been working with a few not-for-profit providers operating emergency sites to pilot a new effort to reduce barriers to obtaining housing by helping asylum-seeking families who have identified permanent housing with the upfront cost of moving into their new home.”
The DSS added that “150 households have benefitted from this pilot over the last seven months, and we look forward to supporting more households as we assess the success of the pilot and feasibility of scaling up and expanding access to this form of assistance.”
To qualify for financial assistance, families must be asylum seekers or pregnant women currently residing in specific DHS emergency shelters and have identified permanent housing situations. According to Fox News, the city has not allocated new funding for this program and is using existing funds instead.
“This is a very small pilot only available to asylum-seeking families in select emergency shelters operated by DHS. This is not a citywide effort and not available to migrant families residing across the shelter system,” the spokesperson clarified.
The program comes as New York City faces an overwhelming influx of migrants and is searching for ways to free up space in its already full migrant shelters. The New York Post reported that the city is projected to spend over $5 billion over the past two years on expenses related to the migrant crisis.
