The Bridge Fund of New York City

As social service providers, we often say that the aspect of our job that we like most is “helping others” or “making a difference” for people like Elba and her daughter Annie, quoted above. The unprecedented demand for Bridge Fund services, however, has placed tremendous pressure on staff to do more while also maintaining the same level of professionalism and care.   State and local governments, which play a vital role in providing opportunities for the working poor, have been faced with stringent budget cuts, and the endowments of many foundations have suffered losses in this recession.  Nevertheless, with the very generous support and encouragement of The New York Community Trust and other stakeholders – both public and private - The Bridge Fund of New York City will prevent, during 2009, more evictions and foreclosures than in any other year.  Our goal for 2009 is to enable about 700 households to hold onto their affordable apartments and homes, thus doubling our achievement in 2008. These households will contain approximately 1,680 needy and deserving individuals, people like Elba and her daughter Annie who do so much to make our city great.

2008 Accomplishments And the Need to Do More

During 2008, The Bridge Fund of New York City received 3,048 requests for help. We made $548,087 in loans, grants and short-term rent subsidies to 334 households so they could pay rental or mortgage arrears that threatened eviction or foreclosure.  Our financial assistance enabled families who were recently awarded Section 8 rent vouchers to secure safe and affordable apartments.  And our Rent Subsidy Project for PreRetirement Workers gave older clients subsidies to pay a small portion of their future rent so they could hold onto their rent stabilized apartments until they became eligible for Social Security Retirement benefits or private pensions that would make them self-sufficient.

The 334 households served in 2008 contained 760 individuals, including 290 children and 46 seniors. They received another $423,341 we leveraged on their behalf from outside sources like the Human Resources Administration, Coalition for the Homeless and Catholic Charities. This combined assistance totaled $971,428. The average Bridge Fund assistance was only $1,646 per household, a fraction of the $36,000 annual cost to tax payers of maintaining a family in a public shelter. These client households, and the many more who applied but did not qualify for our financial assistance, benefited from one or more Bridge Fund services. These include compassionate listening, intensive budget counseling, benefits assessment and advocacy, information and referrals.

The current economic crisis, however, presents the most challenges for the working poor that we have seen since the start of The Bridge Fund in 1991.  Thousands of hard- working New Yorkers are facing job layoffs; local and state governments have cut vital human services; and affordable housing remains elusive, even for middle class households.  Sadly, the situation is not expected to improve any time soon.  The Fiscal Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research and education organization, projects city job losses at 10,000 per month well through the end of 2009.

Making matters worse is the high cost and increasing scarcity of affordable apartments in New York City and the continuing foreclosure crisis. From 2000 – 2006 alone, more than 200,000 apartments (including 15,949 Mitchell-Lama apartments) deemed affordable to low or moderate-income families have been lost in New York City. Even rent-stabilized apartments, in which most of our clients live, are less affordable as these rents have recently been allowed to increase by as much as 7.5%.  Not surprisingly, The Bridge Fund of New York City program has received an increasing number of requests for help from both homeowners and tenants struggling to keep a roof over their heads.  We are seeing more college-educated individuals who have never before experienced financial adversity and do not know how to navigate Housing Court or procure emergency assistance from city government and private charities.  Meeting the special needs of these clients, as well as the many more who are in crisis due to their reduced circumstances and limited job prospects, presents special challenges and opportunities for The Bridge Fund.

The Bridge Fund: Doing More and Doing It Better!

Thanks in great part to the Oak Foundation, Independence Community Foundation and Robin Hood Foundation, The Bridge Fund of New York City extended its client services to Brooklyn in 2007 and implemented the Rent Subsidy Project for PreRetirement Workers. These efforts have provided valuable insights on how the program can better respond to emerging needs and meet its goal of preventing close to 700 families from becoming homeless during 2009.

First, we have expanded our eligibility criteria to include families and individuals who do not have sufficient current income to make ends meet but who will be able to do so in the near future. These include clients who are a year or so away from receiving Social Security Retirement benefits or pension income.It also includes families with minor children who are receiving unemployment insurance benefits. With our short-term financial assistance, these families could hold onto their affordable apartments by securing new employment or by qualifying for an enhanced shelter allowance from welfare should they remain jobless at the end of the unemployment benefit period.

Secondly, The Bridge Fund of New York City has hired additional staff who will assist experienced case handlers with client services. We are making certain all staff members receive the training and support they need to better help clients. Staff has been attending seminars about consumer debut and Housing Court issues offered by the United Way of New York City and others. We will attend workshops given by the Mental Health Association, another grantee of The New York Community Trust, to learn ways to better deal with staff work-related stress and, in particular, those clients for whom job loss and the threat of eviction is a new and horrifying experince.

Our client services involve an on-going partnership with other agencies on our clients' behalf. The City-Wide Task Force on Housing Court, The Legal Aid Society and others help ensure that eligible clients get the legal advice or representation they need in Housing Court. We work with The Human Resources Administration and private charities to leverage more funds for payment of our clients' rental or mortgage arrears, enabling us to help more people.

The Bridge Fund is a member of the Emergency Food & Shelter Program Advisory Board of United Wawy of New York City and the Emergency Rent Coalition (ERC), an organization of private social service agencies that operate eviction-prevention programs. Through our participation, members learn about our services and how to refer clients to our program, and we help to influence some of the broader policy discussions taking place in New York City.

During 2008, we are proud to report that our monitoring outcomes show that more than 93% of our clients are in their homes one year after our initial intervention. The same is true of the 87% who are monitored at their two-year milestone. In the year ahead, we are confident that we will be able to achieve this kind of success.

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In NYC, our average assistance is $1,646 per household.

Our clients pay 39% of their net income on rent

Of our clients, 38% are children.

Client Demographics:

• 58% African/American
• 31% Hispanic
•  9% Caucasian
•  2% Asian

Advisory Committee

Gregory Floyd
President, City Employees Union Local 237

Angela Hollis, MBA
President Hollis Group, LLC; Formerly Director of Advancement, New York City Mission Society

Pritpal Kochbar
Property Management

Douglass Seidman
Attorney, The Legal Aid Society

Wingson Wong
Coordinator of Community Relations, Division of Institutional Advancement, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Erika Wood
Attorney, New York University Law School