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How You Can Help Keep Working NYC Families Housed
Posted on July 13, 2018 by Alice Kenny | Share
Volunteer as a Tenants Rights Workshop Teacher
We need your help combating the housing crisis that pushes working poor families in New York City into homelessness. Please volunteer with us as a Tenants Rights Workshop Teacher.
Voluntary Teachers: Check out these CliffsNotes taken from a comprehensive NYC government report.
· NYC renters stagnated increasing < 15% over the last 20 years,
· Avg NYC rents increased 40% for the same period
· Manhattan rents are the highest in the nation
· Hundreds of thousands struggle to pay high rents with meager earnings
· Many join the more than 50,000 New Yorkers now sleeping in homeless shelters
· Others forego food, coats & other basic needs to keep their families housed
Why the breakdown between supply and demand? We New Yorkers see it ourselves:
· More people are moving to or staying in the City than leaving:
· Older residents are aging in place rather than moving after retirement;
· Young families are remaining in the City rather than moving to the suburbs when their children reach school age;
· Empty-nesters are returning to the City after their children are grown, and
· People are moving to the City from all over the U.S. and world.
· Mismatch between demand for affordable housing and supply
Please help keep struggling families housed.
We are looking for volunteer attorneys to teach the Tenants' Rights & Responsibilities Workshop under our Tenant Education Program.
- When? Tuesdays from 5:30 - 7:30pm.
(Commitment can be for as little as one Tuesday per month!)
- Where? At the Kennedy Center in Harlem (off the 2/3 line – 34 W. 134 St.
- How? Our Program Coordinator will train volunteers in all necessary materials.
- What? Workshops taught by volunteers cover topics relevant to preserving and stabilizing housing in NYC
- Why: Through these training workshops, this program aims to transform participants into tenants who are reliable and preferable to landlords
Curriculum includes:
- Basic knowledge and skills in managing the family budget
- Identify and practice basic rights and responsibilities as a NYC tenant
- Understand the need for a cooperative and peaceful landlord-tenant relationship
- Communication and conflict resolution skills for landlord-tenant relationships
- How to find safe, adequate, affordable apartments
- Info on rental subsidies and assistance programs
- Roots and reasons for eviction/homelessness and how to avoid them
- How to become marketable in the job market