Hi,

We are a grassroots community group of residents who live on the Upper West Side. in NYC. Recently the City announced they are opening a shelter at 106-108 West 83rd for 108 chronically homeless individuals in just a few weeks. It is directly across the street from the playground for PS 9 and the Center School, across from an entrance to the schools where parents and children congregate, and a few doors away from where a beloved neighbor was recently murdered. Many members of our group are elderly, vulnerable, or have small children and live on the block where the shelter is to be located. There is very little security on the block and there are several struggling small businesses. The facility is to be run as what they call a "Safe Haven" which is a shelter with NO screening or background checks, will have no curfews, and will house people in a room without private bathrooms. Pets are allowed and residents will not be screened for drug or alcohol use. This means individuals with criminal histories and/or drug or alcohol addictions will be housed together in small rooms, which may create unsafe conditions for them. The immediate area is already saturated with shelters as our neighborhood is 9th out of 51 districts City- wide. Safe Haven shelters are supposed to be very small to be effective--less than 50 beds, and work for people in the immediate area of the shelter. This facility is large and will house people from all over the City.

The service provider, Breaking Ground, receives very low ratings as a quality provider. See for example: https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Breaking-Ground-Reviews-E24435.ht

We believe a far better use of the facilities would be permanently affordable housing for families so they can avail themselves of the excellent schools located across the street. We would also like the buildings to replace the day-care center that was shuttered recently. We would like to name the new buildings after our neighbor who was killed, calling the new buildings the Maria Hernandez Houses.

We are raising money to help us fight this facility in our beloved neighborhood. Please donate so we can fight for affordable housing to help struggling families and honor our neighbor who was murdered.

Thank you