NYPWA Newsletter 2/28/2025
*Editor’s Note: You will see one dramatic change that came out of the Board of
Director’s Retreat is the name of this newsletter. Times have changed, and the
Board was ready for an update. We have leaned into our Association name and we
wanted to reconnect ourselves to the incredible legacy of over 150 years of helping
the most vulnerable New Yorkers.
Upcoming Events:
March 13: Commissioners Meeting Webex Only
April 10: Commissioners Meeting, Hybrid (in-person or online).
May 20 - 22: State and Local Convening at Fort William Henry in Lake George
July 20 - 23: NYPWA Summer Conference in Saratoga Springs
NYPWA Board Retreat Completed
NYPWA successfully completed their yearly Board of Directors Retreat on
Thursday and Friday of this week in Saratoga Springs. The Board of Directors met
to discuss strategy and establish goals for 2025. We had insightful conversation
and identified ways that NYPWA and the Board of Directors will work for the
membership and improve our association. Thank you to everyone who
participated, and we will share some of our goals in the upcoming weeks.
NYPWA Legislative Summary
With the 2024 Legislative Session in the rearview, it is time to give a summary of
Legislation which NYPWA was tracking last year. Each issue area in the document
provides a general bill title, bill number, who sponsors the legislation, a brief
description, and where it is in the legislative process. Please see the attached
document.
HUD Grant Delays and Planned Staff Cuts Are Sending Homeless Service
Providers into Panic
Every year, the Department of Housing and Urban Development awards billions of
dollars in grants to nonprofits and state and local agencies to help people transition
from homelessness into permanent housing. In fiscal year 2024, Congress
approved, and the Biden administration awarded, $3.6 billion of those competitive
grants, which also include funds for veterans experiencing homelessness, rapid
rehousing and permanent supportive housing, youth homelessness and domestic
violence shelters.
The money was set to go out throughout 2025 and 2026, depending on when
individual grants were set to renew. But nonprofit leaders say none of the grant
funds awarded on Jan. 17 have officially been made available.
While it’s not clear how much money was supposed to have gone out since
January, nonprofit leaders tell Shelterforce/Next City that the Trump
administration’s HUD has not yet communicated about the grant funds. It’s leaving
some providers to panic about how they will serve homeless communities at a time
when homelessness has reached an all-time high