Bloomberg announces $187m housing boost.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced that $187 million has been added to the Ten Year Capital Plan of the City's Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) to construct supportive housing.

The additional funding to the agency's Supportive Housing Loan Program is a 65% increase, from $285 million to $472 million.

Of the $187 million, $132 million is City capital funds and $55 million is Federal HOME funds which is a federal grant given annually to the City that HPD uses for rehabilitation and construction of housing for low income residents.

Supportive housing combines affordable, permanent housing with such on-site services as medical and mental health care and substance abuse treatment.

Mayor Bloomberg announced the increase at Immaculata Hall, a new $14 million housing development in Jamaica Queens, which is home to residents who have faced persistent mental illness and homelessness.

Immaculata Hall's 100-units, which is the first supportive housing development in Queens funded by HPD's Supportive Housing Program, is operated by Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers (SVCMC).

New York City's Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Shaun Donovan, Department of Health and Mental HygieneCommissioner Thomas R. Freiden, MD, MPH, Department of Homeless Services (DHS) First Deputy Commissioner Fran Winter, Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers' (SVCMC) CEO David Speltz, and SVCMC vice chair Bishop Joseph M. Sullivan joined Mayor Bloomberg in announcing the increased funding.

"Supportive housing is the right way to get people with special needs back on their feet," said Mayor Bloomberg.

"Supportive housing pays for itself by reducing a client's use of expensive emergency services like emergency rooms, homeless shelters, and inpatient services.

"It offers instead, a safe, stable place to live with managed supportive services, which we believe improves the lives of clients and makes better use of public resources."