Sheltering and housing the homeless

The Bowery Residents’ Committee (BRC) is one of New York City’s largest homeless shelter providers, operating nine shelters and safe havens with 977 beds. Currently, New York City is expanding its shelter system by opening new shelters in privately-owned buildings. The ability to build affordable housing, however, is severely limited by a lack of housing subsidies. BRC plans to create a new transitional residence, funded by the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), which co-locates a new 200-bed shelter with permanent, low-cost housing. This plan would reinvest profits from the shelter to create and subsidize efficiency units for the formerly homeless. The Capstone team was charged to create a scalable financial model that can be used to replicate this transitional housing project throughout the City. The team reviewed BRC’s detailed pro formas, consulted with BRC’s finance team, and conducted background research on shelters and low-income housing in New York. The team’s final report outlined the effect of a large-scale roll-out of this model on New York City’s shelter system and homeless population.