{"id":39383,"date":"2026-01-20T18:09:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T18:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/?p=39383"},"modified":"2026-01-20T18:09:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T18:09:10","slug":"mayor-mamdani-restarts-just-home-supportive-housing-initiative-reversing-prior-administrations-efforts-to-block-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/archives\/39383","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Mamdani restarts Just Home supportive housing initiative, reversing prior administration\u2019s efforts to block project"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEWYORK: Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced his administration\u2019s commitment to advancing Just Home, a first-of-its-kind housing initiative to serve formerly incarcerated New Yorkers with complex medical needs on the campus of NYC Health + Hospitals\/Jacobi.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 100% affordable housing project will create 83 new apartments in an underutilized building on the Bronx hospital grounds. In addition, later this week, the NYC Health Department will update a Request for Proposals as part of the Justice-Involved Supportive Housing (JISH) initiative to put the city on a path to more than 350 supportive homes for justice-involved New Yorkers in the coming years.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0previous\u00a0mayoral administration\u00a0stated\u00a0that it would not move forward with Just Home, despite approval by the\u00a0Health\u00a0+ Hospitals Board of Directors in 2024 and by the New York City Council in\u00a0September 2025. The Fortune Society will serve as the developer and service provider for Just Home.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we honor a leader who named poverty as a moral crisis. Today,\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0proud to commit my administration to Just Home\u2014an initiative that brings housing, health care, and justice together. By housing New Yorkers who are too often left on the streets or shuttled through emergency rooms, Just Home meets our housing crisis with dignity,\u201d said\u00a0Mayor Zohran Mamdani.<\/p>\n

Just Home will expand multiple citywide initiatives that advance the\u00a0Mayor\u2019s\u00a0goals, including the city\u2019s Justice-Involved Supportive Housing (JISH) program and NYC Health + Hospitals\u2019 Housing for health opens in a new tab\u00a0\u2014and his commitment to use public sites to create housing for New Yorkers in need. Just Home has received $1 million in annual funding through JISH, an evidence-driven permanent, supportive housing model that results in fewer returns to jail, less shelter use, and improved health outcomes.<\/p>\n

In accordance with\u00a0the JISH model, supportive housing tenants at Just Home will receive intensive, wraparound services from Fortune Society\u2019s licensed clinical social workers and dedicated peer workers.<\/p>\n

Demonstrating the city\u2019s further commitment to housing for justice-involved New Yorkers, the NYC Health Department is releasing later this week an updated Request for Proposals for the program, which will create up to 190 new homes for justice-involved New Yorkers. Between Just Home, and the new Request for Proposals, the Mamdani administration is moving to bring the total number of supportive housing units for justice-involved New Yorkers to over 350 homes.<\/p>\n

Just Home is also part of NYC Health + Hospitals\u2019 Housing for Health initiative, which helps homeless patients and their families find housing. In 2025, Housing for Health provided services to\u00a0nearly 1,600\u00a0homeless New Yorkers, including placing over 600 individuals in housing and supporting\u00a0nearly 430\u00a0patients with medical respite. At Just Home, Fortune\u2019s on-site case managers will work with Jacobi\u2019s medical providers to coordinate outpatient care just steps away from their home.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust Home is not just 83 apartments\u2014it is a symbol of our commitment to meeting the housing needs of every New Yorker. Supportive housing can be a lifeline for many of our neighbors, and is key to building a healthier, more affordable city,\u201d said\u00a0Leila\u00a0Bozorg, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll continue working to deliver affordable and supportive housing across the five boroughs and ensure that every neighborhood is a part of our housing growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHousing is health care, and this project will make a real difference in the lives of New Yorkers in need of care,\u201d said\u00a0Dr. Helen Arteaga, Deputy Mayor for\u00a0Health\u00a0and Human Services.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople living in permanent housing have better health outcomes and live longer than those living unstably. When we invest in affordable and supportive housing, we invest in a healthier city and better outcomes for all New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor our patients experiencing homelessness, so many of the problems we see in primary care can be addressed with a simple prescription: housing,\u201d said\u00a0<\/strong>NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Mitchell Katz, MD.<\/p>\n

\u201cNYC Health + Hospitals has used our land to create affordable and supportive housing for hundreds of New Yorkers through our Housing for Health initiative, and we are eager to add the Just Home project to that list. Our patients leaving Rikers need our support to rebuild their lives. We are deeply grateful to Mayor Mamdani for his commitment to this project and the people who will one day call it home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAdvancing Just Home reaffirms this administration\u2019s commitment to the principle that decent, quality housing is a basic human right, regardless of\u00a0past history. Moreover, creating stable and affordable homes for individuals who are suffering through severe illness as they transition back into the community is both fiscally responsible and morally imperative,\u201d said\u00a0Dina Levy, incoming NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner.<\/p>\n

\u201cI applaud Mayor Mamdani\u2019s actions to support the success and health of previously incarcerated New Yorkers,\u201d said\u00a0NYC Health Department Acting Commissioner Dr. Michelle Morse.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must work to end the disproportionate incarceration of people of color in New York City. In parallel, New Yorkers with a history of incarceration must get access to stable housing. Housing first is a tremendously effective health and justice intervention. The NYC Health Department is proud to contribute to that commitment through a Request for Proposals to build up to 190\u00a0additional\u00a0supportive homes for New Yorkers with a history of incarceration. Housing is a human right. Our newly published research\u00a0demonstrates\u00a0that people\u00a0impacted\u00a0by incarceration are more likely to experience serious psychological distress, difficulty functioning, and social isolation\u2014all of which are addressed by supportive housing. Within our Justice Involved Supportive Housing program, 87% of supportive housing residents with a history of incarceration have no arrests on their record while living in supportive housing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom our earliest days providing care in our city\u2019s jails, we at Correctional Health Services recognized the critical need for stable and supportive housing, close to medical care, that would allow some of our most clinically vulnerable patients to leave Rikers and return to a safe and dignified life in the community,\u201d said\u00a0Senior Vice President for NYC Health + Hospitals\/Correctional Health Services Dr. Patsy Yang.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Mitchell Katz has been an unflinching supporter of this ground-breaking initiative from his first day at Health + Hospitals, and we could not have even imagined a stronger, more closely aligned partner in this endeavor than The Fortune Society.\u00a0\u00a0Finally, and at long last, we would not be here today without the vision and conviction of Mayor Mamdani and his Administration that this project\u2014which will offer not simply housing but a home and a fresh start for some of our most traditionally marginalized neighbors\u2014is the just and right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHousing for Health has seen firsthand that our patients living in quality safe housing are healthier and happier. Leveraging our public land assets is a perfect opportunity to make this a reality,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Leora\u00a0Jontef, Senior Assistant Vice President Housing and Real Estate, NYC Health + Hospitals.<\/p>\n

\u201cSupportive housing developed and operated by experienced organizations like the Fortune Society, combined with connections to nearby health care at our facilities, are an ideal combination to support our most vulnerable patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are deeply grateful that the new mayoral administration is showing its\u00a0strong support\u00a0for the Just Home project at Jacobi Hospital. The City Council\u2019s overwhelming approval late last year was a crucial step toward a more compassionate and\u00a0equitable\u00a0city, and this administration\u2019s commitment to follow through ensures we can move forward,\u201d said\u00a0Stanley Richards, President and CEO of The Fortune Society.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe offer our sincerest thanks to Mayor Mamdani, NYC Health + Hospitals, and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) for their partnership and support. When it opens, this innovative development will address a significant concern by providing supportive, evidence-based solutions for New Yorkers with complex medical needs who would otherwise be homeless. The Just Home project underscores our collective commitment to advancing health equity and creating positive, transformative change for our city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once Just Home opens, potential tenants\u2014with such complex medical needs as cancer, cirrhosis, and congestive heart failure\u2014will first be\u00a0identified\u00a0by Correctional Health Services, a division of NYC Health + Hospitals that directly provides high-quality health care to people in the City\u2019s custody.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEWYORK: Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced his administration\u2019s commitment to advancing Just Home, a first-of-its-kind housing initiative to serve formerly incarcerated New Yorkers with complex medical needs on the campus of NYC Health + Hospitals\/Jacobi. The 100% affordable housing project will create 83 new apartments in an underutilized building on the Bronx hospital grounds. In addition, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":39380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1469,31,1378],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-york","category-news","category-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39383"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39384,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39383\/revisions\/39384"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}