5 New York Organizations Working to Create Affordable Housing

Groups Addressing The NY Housing Crisis

Home Ownership In The United States By Year

Guiding Principles of NYC's Housing Plan

According to The City of New York

1. Policies must address the city's changing demographics and expand the range of those served
2. The city's planning processes and land-use policies need to be revamped
3. Economic diversity must be a cornerstone of housing development
4. Municipal tools and public assets should be deployed more effectively
5. Strategically protect past investments and lock in affordability in changing neighborhoods
6. Protect tenants in rent-regulated units more aggressively
7. Leverage today's favorable markets and adapt quickly to future conditions
8. Increase capital funding to housing programs

American Cities With The Highest Rent

The Affordable Housing Crisis In America

In Depth

Due to a cycle of urban reinvestment and rural disinvestment that commenced in the 1990s, and a boiling hot market for speculative homebuying, many Americans are facing a severe crisis of affordable housing. In few places is this problem so acute as in New York State, where metropolitan areas see extraordinarily high rents and rural and exurban communities are filled with buildings that have fallen into disrepair. This list, presented in no particular order, compiles groups that are working to create affordable housing for both tenants and owners in the state.

At #1, the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development is a coalition of community groups across New York City. It uses research, advocacy, and grassroots organizing to support the development of affordable housing units. The group identifies values of justice, equity, and opportunity. It emphasizes the importance of movement-building that centers marginalized populations in its work. Since its establishment in 1974, members have provided training, capacity-building and apprenticeship programs, and undertaken policy research.

The association campaigns for affordable housing developed with public resources to permanently remain at low cost to renters, avoiding the current time-limited requirements that have left the city scrambling to preserve subsidized units created in earlier eras. To combat the displacement of longtime residents, it also pushes for the creation of better laws and policies, and works to protect tenants' rights and strengthen neighborhoods. Take part by attending an event in the group's training series.

To combat the displacement of longtime residents, it also pushes for the creation of better laws and policies, and works to protect tenants' rights and strengthen neighborhoods.

#2 on the list, The Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, seeks to empower New Yorkers by supporting low-income residents to take control of their housing, and build their communities through cooperation. It sees cooperative ownership as a model for democratic participation, and a tool for permanent affordability, helping to create and preserve reasonably priced co-op units across four boroughs. There are five core principles: self-help, democratic residential control, shared equity cooperative ownership, cost-effective sustainability, and continual learning.

The group's organizing and policy team fights tenant displacement by building collective power to challenge real estate practices that harm communities. A development wing works to create new cooperatives and rehabilitate old ones. Existing co-ops can also take advantage of preservation services. There are also trainings available to members. Get involved by volunteering with its Youth Tenant Organizing Program or the Cooperatives and Homesteading Oral History project.

For #3, it's Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk, an independently operated Long Island affiliate of the international organization. The group partners volunteers with low-income families to construct affordable houses and promote homeownership. Since 1988, it has built units for hundreds of participants, setting a goal of erecting 10 to 12 new buildings each year. The organization is proud to be recognized with a four-star rating by Charity Navigator.

The group partners volunteers with low-income families to construct affordable houses and promote homeownership.

The chapter gives a portion of donations to Habitat International's Tithing Program, which encourages affiliates to pass along a tenth of what they raise in support of building homes in developing countries. It also brings in money through its ReStore warehouse, a retail outlet with new and slightly used building supplies and home furnishings on sale at a fraction of the original cost. Help out by volunteering as an individual or part of a larger group.

#4 is Chhaya Community Development Corporation, advocating for the housing needs of South Asians in New York City, and working with members of that population to lobby for and build economically stable and thriving neighborhoods. Its work encompasses tenant rights, financial capacity building, sustainable homeownership, foreclosure prevention, energy efficiency, women's financial empowerment, workforce development, civic engagement, and broader community building and research and advocacy around resident issues.

The group's Housing Preservation Program is designed to protect, preserve, and promote affordable developments in the city's low-to-moderate-income areas. The Economic Development wing provides trainings, classes, and workers' rights information. Another section of the corporation focuses on advocacy and community organizing. The Neighborhood Planning and Development project works with South Asian communities to identify shared needs and issues. Support these efforts by making a donation.

Support these efforts by making a donation.

Wrapping things up at #5, Home Headquarters is a nonprofit community development organization and certified Community Development Financial Institution whose mission is to create housing opportunities in Central and Upstate New York for individuals and families. It was founded in 1996 to address the declining owner-occupancy rate and overall disinvestment in the city of Syracuse. Today it serves a six-county region through lending, homeownership, and foreclosure prevention activities.

The organization offers low-interest and deferred loans to help qualified, first-time buyers cover closing costs. There are also similar programs to pay for necessary improvements, rental property renovations, and to subsidize commercial developments. Its Homeownership Center supplies education and counseling to prospective homeowners, and foreclosure prevention assistance for struggling ones. Home Headquarters also functions as a property developer in its own right. Keep up with its activities through its online press center.