Thank you, Chair Sanchez, and the esteemed members of the Committee on Housing and
Buildings for the opportunity to submit testimony on the Fiscal Year 2027 budget. My name is
Jade Vasquez, and I am the Director of Policy and Research at Win, the largest provider of
shelter and supportive housing to families with children in New York City and the nation. We
operate 16 shelters and nearly 500 supportive housing units across the five boroughs. Each night,
nearly 7,000 people call Win “home,” including 3,600 children.
Today, as our city faces its worst affordability crisis, more than 100,000 New Yorkers, including
33,000 children, are experiencing homelessness.1 The underlying cause of mass homelessness in
New York City is a shortage of rental housing for the lowest income residents. This
homelessness crisis will continue to grow unless the City corrects the misalignment between the
greatest need for affordable housing and the priorities for affordable housing production.
The City must commit to creating 12,000 units of truly affordable housing per year for the
next five years—for a total of 60,000 units available only to homeless and extremely lowincome households on the brink of homelessness. New York City must prioritize investing
capital for deeply affordable housing— specifically for those who are currently homeless and
extremely low-income households at imminent risk of homelessness.