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Financial Fitness Workshop
Ninth Annual Event to Benefit Project Renewal | |
A one day opportunity to help you achieve financial success.
Where: NYU Law School 40 Washington Square
When: Saturday, October 1, 2011 8:00am to 5:30pm
Registration Fee: $40 Fee, proceeds support Project Renewal
Topics Include:
- Do-It-Yourself Guide: Creating A Financial Plan
- Constructing Your Portfolio
- Making the Most Out Of Less: Smart Planning Techniques
- Paying Yourself in Retirement
- Creating Income Streams: Stocks, Bonds, Preferreds & Cash
- Wills, Living Wills, Healthcare Proxies, Power of Attorney
- Credit Scores, Credit Repair & Identity Theft
To learn more and register, visit: www.fpany.org |
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Shelter Residents Face Another Obstacle to Moving Out: Many Lose Advantage Rental Assistance | |
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Advantage helped Patrick Lee leave the shelter.
Current shelter residents have lost this option. |
What does a client need to leave the shelter system for good? Motivation (including sobriety and good health), a job or means to live independently, and a place to live. The last item just got a little harder for some men and women who used to qualify for Advantage rental assistance, a benefit that helped pay rent for up to two years on leaving a shelter. The City ended the program when the State cut its share of the funding back in April. The Legal Aid Society filed a class action on behalf of homeless New Yorkers, but a Judge ruled last week that the City had the right to end this benefit program based on lack of available funding.
Rental assistance helped Third Street Shelter resident Patrick Lee move out last year. "I spent a year and three months in the Third Street Shelter and had counseling in the OPD (Outpatient Counseling Department). They saved my life. I spent a lot of time looking for a place and getting prepared for that day because I knew I'd have to leave here. I'm not getting any younger, and I don't want to die in a shelter. I don't want to die with alcohol and drugs in my system. I don't want that to be my legacy. Project Renewal had this rental assistance voucher. That helped me so much. Now I've signed a lease and my landlord is so sweet. In order for you to have this housing, you have to work for it.
The job came shortly after I moved out. When I was living here I worked the stipend program doing the breakfast cooking and prepping and stuff like that. There was an opening for washing the pots. Ms. Barbara Hughes (the Comfort Foods Director) asked me if I'd fill out an application. I was so happy to get the job because I didn't want to be idle. When I leave work, do you know what I'm going to do? I am going home. I love my place. I wake up in the morning and I sit up in my bed and I say, 'Wow, this is mine, this is life, this is wonderful.'" (Read more here about Patrick's journey from the streets to home.)
While Patrick was fortunate to have this help in the critical transition from shelter to home, some shelter residents will now have to wait longer to find an available apartment they can afford. The longer they wait in shelters, the fewer places are available for those needing shelter beds. And those in apartments already may be at risk of losing their apartments if they can't pay the rent - putting even more strain on the shelter system. And at a greater cost to taxpayers than rental assistance benefits.
In the meantime, we're continuing to work with the City to find new solutions including a plan to use $15 million in available State funding to help shelter clients move out.
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Save the Date: Fall Ball 2011! | | |
Mark your calendars...It's time for our Junior Board's Fifth Annual Fall Ball! Our Junior Board's mission is to increase awareness of Project Renewal among young professionals while contributing to its vision of ending homelessness in New York City. The fun-filled evening will take place at The Bowery Hotel on Friday, November 11th. Guests will enjoy a DJ, open bar and a chance to win fantastic raffle items.
Last year, over 400 guests filled The Bowery Hotel and raised $17,000 to fund our life-saving programs. Help make this year's event an even bigger success!
When: Friday, November 11 at 9:00pm - 1:00am
Where: The Bowery Hotel, 335 Bowery
Like us on Facebook for event updates! |
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