De Blasio administration claims progress in curbing homelessness since 2014

Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement has received a $1.9 million contract from the New York City Department of Social Services. The money will fund 60 units of non-emergency scatter site housing and support services for people living with AIDS through June 2019, according to the City Record. Richmond Medical Center has received an $8.1 million contract from the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to fund mental health services for children and adolescents. The American Lung Association will provide mental health services for children and adolescents, per a $121,875 contract with the department.

Habitat for Humanity New York City raised more than $650,000 on Oct. 16. The midtown Manhattan event honored RuthAnne Visnauskas, commissioner of the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal, for her work promoting partnerships between the nonprofit and New York state government. More than 400 guests attended the event. Read more about it here.

Enterprise Community Partners has appointed two new members to its New York advisory board. Laurie Ledford is the senior vice president and chief human resources officer at Marsh & McLennan Companies. Benathan Upshaw is co-owner of affordable housing developer CB Emmanuel Realty. Enterprise is a nationwide organization that promotes affordable housing and community development.

New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and other members of the council made an appearance at the Chinese-American Planning Council on Oct. 23. The event highlighted a new $12 million allocation for the Adult Literacy Initiative in Fiscal Year 2019. Representatives from United Neighborhood Houses, MASA, New Immigrant Community Empowerment, Haitian Americans United for Progress, and the Arab American Association of New York were also in attendance. About 3,200 classroom seats spread out among 47 programs will receive funding through the allocation, according to an Oct. 24 press release.

“The need for effective, flexible English courses is significant: to acquire dignified, living-wage jobs and move up in their fields, our members must learn English in a way that prioritizes vocational needs and recognizes their previous educational achievement,” said Manuel Castro, executive director of New Immigrant Community Empowerment.

The de Blasio administration claimed on Oct. 24 that more than 100,000 New Yorkers have exited or avoided homeless shelters since 2014. A press release states that rental assistance and rehousing programs have helped blunt record levels of homelessness in the city. The DHS shelter census in 2017 remained roughly the same as in 2016 for the first time in about a decade. Read the press release below:

An earlier version of this article misspelled the name of Benathan Upshaw.