Coalition for the Homeless, Inc.

The Coalition for the Homeless believes that affordable housing, sufficient food, and the chance to work for a living wage are fundamental rights in a civilized society. Since our inception in 1981, the Coalition has worked through litigation, public education, and direct services to ensure that these goals are realized.

For 40 years, the Coalition for the Homeless has developed and implemented humane, cost-effective strategies to end mass homelessness in New York City. Our model programs represent solutions that can dramatically reduce the homeless population and prevent homelessness among those most at risk.

Our renowned advocacy tirelessly fights for investments in proven, cost-effective housing-based solutions to mass homelessness. Our first legal victory, Callahan v. Carey, established the right to shelter for homeless adult men — a crucial first step in our subsequent victories on behalf of homeless women and children. Since then, the Coalition has won a string of legal actions including securing medically appropriate housing for people living with HIV/AIDS and ensuring the right to vote for Americans without homes.

Every day, our 11 frontline programs help more than 3,500 men, women and children survive immediate crises and put them on the path to long-term stability. We witness firsthand the challenges they face and shape our services to best meet their needs, providing emergency food and clothing, eviction prevention, crisis services, permanent housing, job training, and special programs for homeless youth.

The Coalition also serves as the court-appointed independent monitor of the municipal shelter system for single adults and the City-appointed independent monitor of the shelter system for homeless families. We maintain a constant presence in shelters to assess conditions and advocate on behalf of the tens of thousands of individuals and families in need of decent shelter.

The Coalition for the Homeless is a vocal and invaluable city and statewide resource for homeless people, at-risk populations, other advocates and service providers, policymakers, and the public at large. We have earned the reputation as the most credible source of information on homelessness, its causes, and solutions.

Since our founding in 1981, we have given more than a million homeless New Yorkers a way off the streets. Our landmark litigation, Callahan v. Carey, established the legal right to shelter for homeless adult men in NYC and was the first crucial step in creating a safety net for our homeless neighbors. We have since won a number of important legal victories, including securing protective services for homeless children, requiring medically appropriate housing for people living with HIV/AIDS, ensuring the right to vote for New Yorkers without homes, and ensuring that the municipal shelter system properly accommodates homeless people with disabilities.

Over the past four decades, our innovative programming has also:

• Delivered more than 8 million meals to hungry and homeless New Yorkers on the streets of the city.
• Provided a quarter-million individuals with life-saving crisis services.
• Prevented more than 15,000 households from being evicted and falling into homelessness – thus saving the City roughly a half-billion dollars in averted shelter costs.
• Given 2,000 New Yorkers the safety and dignity of permanent housing.
• Helped more than 1,700 homeless and low-income women find a pathway to employment and stability.

We remain committed to ending mass homelessness altogether by fighting for the day when shelters are no longer needed, when every New Yorker has a home of their own, and when no one is left to live – or die – on our streets.