MCC Grantee, Eviction Intervention Services, on a mission to prevent homelessness

Dear EIS Friends and Supporters!

Please take a moment to read the article, attached, which appears in today's THE NEW YORK TIMES.

Each day, EIS meets a person much like those profiled in the piece. Just yesterday, Pauline was at EIS. Pauline lives with her 18 year old son in Upper Manhattan; she works as a security guard and during a good week she can earn $300.00 but...like so many, if she does not work, she does not get paid. Pauline is a widow thus she and her son do get a monthly Social Security support subsidy of $550.00 per month. Still- it's almost impossible for her to keep up with her monthly rent payment of $1090/month...particularly when she must also buy a monthly metrocard, put food on the table and do laundry! She and her son don't live a luxurious life but routine activities do cost money. This spring her son was ill and the co-payments for antibiotics and other medications made things even more difficult...Pauline fell behind in her rent and is now in Housing Court.

HOW DOES EIS HELP?
EIS is trying very hard to keep Pauline and her son from entering the shelter system. What have we done? EIS sat Pauline down for Benefits Entitlement Counseling and application filing; we are pretty positive her household should receive SNAP (food stamp benefits) as well as health care through Child Health Plus, if not medicaid. We also have reached out for rental arrear stipends. EIS is also in discussions with Pauline's landlord about a payment plan arrangement; the housing management agency recognizes Pauline and her son are good tenants to have in their building...but we all understand rent must be paid.

As the article points out, the average monthly cost to the City of maintaining a family in the shelter system is $3000.00. Pauline and her son make it on a lot less each month!!
We thank you for your generous support to and interest in EIS-our work, our mission and our clients!

Please take a moment: http://nyti.ms/154wWaO

NYTimes: In New York, Having a Job, or 2, Doesn’t Mean Having a Home

Affordable-housing advocates say the homeless work force is proof of the widening gap between wages and rents and the difficulty in escaping the shelter system.

EIS
Eviction Intervention Services
www.eisny.org
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Eviction Intervention Services
1233 2nd Avenue, NYC 10065
p.(212) 308-2210
f.(212) 715-9908
www.eisny.org