The New York State Office of Temporary Disability Assistance (OTDA) has released four YouTube videos to address Overcoming Vaccine Hesitancy and Overcoming Mistrust for People Experiencing Homelessness. These videos are available in English and Spanish. They feature shelter clients and staff who have rreceived the COVID-19 vaccine and believe that others should be vaccinated as…

Spiritus Christi Prison Outreach (SCPO) is excited to announce the Open House for the new location of Nielsen House. The new location, formerly the Sojourner House site, will allow for expansion of SCPO services. The event will be held on September 29th from 3pm – 7pm; blessing will be held at 4pm. SCPO would love…

Partners Ending Homelessness is currently recruiting for two SOAR Benefit Specialists. The SOAR Benefit Specialists will assist individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness who have a serious mental illness, medical impairment, and/or a co-occurring substance use disorder to apply for Social Security disability benefits. The Benefits Specialists will initiate the SSI/SSDI applications and stay…

Governor Hochul has extended the NYS Eviction and Foreclosure Extension through January 15, 2022. Under the new law, all protections of the Tenant Safe Harbor Act for residential tenants who are suffering financial hardship as a result of the pandemic will remain in place, along with new protections on commercial evictions. Please encourage any households…

Several federal unemployment benefit programs will expire across the country on September 5, 2021. These include Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, Extended Benefits and $300 Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation. To be considered eligible for Unemployment Insurance after September 5, 2021, a claimant must be unemployed AND be in the first 26 weeks (or…

HUD has released the FY2021 CoC Program Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) and it is due November 16th. For Monroe County, the maximum funding that can be applied for is $15,255,883. This amount includes $12,850,453 for renewal projects, $385,514 for the CoC planning grant, and the potential for $642,453 in Bonus Projects and $1,377,393 for…

The August Homeless Services Network Meeting (HSN) has been cancelled. The HSN Steering Committee met last week for its annual Planning Meeting and we hope to have some exciting presentations and discussions lined up for 2021-22. Meetings will resume on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 8:30AM beginning in September.  

LAWNY, Action for A Better Community, RMAPI, CASH and The Legal Aid Society are sponsoring “You and Your Benefits” a virtual series of workshops on understanding how increased wages from employment impact your benefits. Sessions are held on Fridays from 12Noon – 12:45PM. Please see attached flyer for further information, dates, times and registration link.…

APPLY TODAY!!! Do not wait until the Eviction Moratorium expires on 8/31 to seek help!!! Funding is currently available for City of Rochester and Monroe County households who have an emergency need for assistance overdue rent related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Households must complete an application, be interviewed and provide required documentation. Landlords may also…

The Rochester Housing Authority (RHA) will begin administering Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHV) effective 7/19/21. For an Individual/Family to be eligible to receive an EHV, at least one (1) of the following criteria must be met: • Individual/Family must meet HUD’s definition of homeless • Individual/Family must meet HUD’s definition of at risk of homelessness •…