NYC Faith-Based Shelter Program
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced the establishment of a faith-based shelter program in partnership with New York Disaster Interfaith Services (NYDIS) to establish overnight shelters at 50 houses of worship or faith-based spaces in order to accommodate nearly 1,000 asylum seekers.
The City will also open five daytime centers to offer programming and support during the day, aiming to integrate asylum seekers into local communities and have access to showers as well as hot meals.
Many houses of worship, such as the Muslim Community Center (MCC), have been doing this work to house and provide for asylum seekers and people in need. MCC has been housing 17 migrants since August of last year.
Since the beginning of the influx of asylum seekers to NYC, Mayor Adams has called on houses of faith to house these new arrivals. This new initiative underlines the connection between faith communities and their communities - and the services they often provide for those most in need.
Fill out this online form to see if your house of worship is eligible to be a hospitality center.
Fill out this online form to see if your house of worship is eligible to be a shelter.
Spotlight: JOE NYC
JOE NYC was founded by a group of prominent New York City Community Development Corporations (CDCs) in response to a set of challenges confronting the affordable housing stock and low and moderate income communities, and, in particular the nonprofit community. The Joint Ownership Entity New York City (JOE-NYC) is a membership organization that owns and asset manages affordable multifamily rental properties.
Among the goals of the JOE, it is designed to help ensure the long-term affordability of the properties in its portfolio and the stability of the communities within which they are located, as well as, to enhance the ability of CDCs to secure financing for their development projects.
In November 2020, Goldstein Hall won the Grunin Prize for Law and Social Entrepreneurship for creating the JOE.
“In this post-pandemic economy, nonprofit CDCs’ services and expertise are in greater demand, yet they have less access to the resources needed to create and maintain affordable housing. The JOE is a viable model for strengthening mission-driven organizations, pooling their resources, and keeping affordable housing affordable for residents who need it most,” said David Goldstein, Managing Partner at Goldstein Hall.
Different Ways to Worship
A recent survey from Pew Research Center shows the different ways Americans are worshiping.
A third of Americans regularly attend in-person worship services, while just over a quarter regularly watch religious services on TV or online.
Convenience is the primary factor cited by 43% of regular virtual worshippers. Safety concerns related to COVID-19 rank lower at 25%. Two-thirds express extreme or high satisfaction with the services, sermons, and music they experience online while in-person attendees generally express higher satisfaction levels with 74% saying they are very or extremely satisfied.
In-person attendees also report a stronger sense of connection to fellow worshipers.
Next week, we’ll look at the results - and implications - of Exploring the Pandemic Impact on Congregations: Innovation Amidst and Beyond COVID-19. This is a five-year research project exploring the effect the pandemic has had on congregations and clergy, funded by Lilly Endowment and led by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research.
