Dear Readers,

As the city’s recent elections showed, housing affordability is top of mind for millions of New Yorkers. As the Housing and Homelessness reporter for City Limits, I’m dedicated to creating stories with and for communities most impacted by the housing crisis.

A few months ago, I learned from the community that elderly, low-income residents were facing eviction from their subsidized housing. After months of investigation, I uncovered a complicated web of federal, state, and city policies that let private managers get away with gross abuses and unlawfully send some of New York’s most vulnerable people to eviction court, people like Jose Tolentino, who spent years fighting his landlord to keep his housing subsidy.

After hearing the stories of Tolentino and others, I realized there were tens of thousands of New Yorkers in a similar situation. So I wrote a guide to help people with federal housing subsidies.

My reporting on housing and homelessness over the past year has enabled New Yorkers to enjoy full protection of the law during eviction, preserve key incentives for city housing vouchers, and ensure that they go to the polls informed about how mayoral candidate’s platforms will affect NYCHA residents and people experiencing homelessness.
 
All that was made possible by support from the community. We are raising $40,000 to continue to find stories that affect the city’s most in need—and fight for a future that includes them. Your donation will be matched by Newsmatch through December 31st, doubling your gift. Will you join us?
 
Best,
Patrick F. Spauster
Housing and Homelessness Reporter