HELP USA, Camber Property Group, and the New York City Department of Social Services have opened HELP Women’s Center at 114 Snediker Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn. The five-story, 60,000-square-foot facility will begin operations on March 30, serving as a 200-bed intake and assessment center for women entering the shelter system. The project was developed by Camber Property Group, built by Fifth Avenue Builders in partnership with Urban Atelier Group, and designed by Curtis + Ginsberg Architects in collaboration with HELP USA.

The facility is the first in New York City designed specifically as a centralized intake center for women entering shelter, reflecting a shift toward person-centered care. The structure is fully ADA-compliant and includes a mix of private and shared accommodations tailored to residents’ varying medical and mobility needs.

HELP Women’s Center consolidates intake, assessment, and supportive services within a single location. On-site medical and clinical care will be provided in partnership with Project Renewal, alongside dedicated spaces for employment assistance and housing searches. Additional amenities include a communal dining room, commercial kitchen, laundry facilities, a low-stimulation comfort room, and rooftop and outdoor garden spaces. The facility also incorporates a site-specific mural, “Open Light,” by artist Shantell Martin, as part of HELP USA’s Art of Resilience initiative.

Transit near 114 Snediker Avenue includes the Broadway Junction transit hub, which provides access to the New York City Subway via the A, C, J, Z, and L lines, as well as nearby bus routes.

No single policy will solve New York City’s homelessness crisis on its own, but a little-known program with tremendous potential offers one of the most effective paths from shelter to permanent housing. Affordable Housing Services is a proven model that can help thousands of New Yorkers move into deeply affordable, stable homes, and it deserves a significant role in the incoming administration’s strategy to end homelessness.

At the end of last year, the Institute for Community Living, the New York City Department of Social Services, and Camber Property Group came together to acquire and open The Atlantic in East New York. What was once a vacant, unrealized market-rate building is now home to 183 families and individuals who are finally leaving shelter. For people who have faced years of discrimination and countless barriers in the private rental market, The Atlantic represents something rare: a rapid path to long-term housing stability. And this wouldn’t have happened without AHS.

The AHS program enabled the city and ICL to finance an entire empty market-rate building with a CityFHEPS contract, creating guaranteed rental income that allows ICL to pay the mortgage. Because of this structure, ICL leased every unit to formerly homeless households in under a year. That pace is almost unheard-of in traditional affordable housing development, where new homes can take nearly a decade to become available. It demonstrates what can happen when DSS, nonprofit providers and mission-aligned developers collaborate with urgency and a shared goal.

AHS also represents a creative shift in how the city uses its resources. DSS is traditionally responsible for emergency services and voucher administration. Under then-Commissioner Molly Wasow Park, the agency stepped up to help create the housing supply where these vouchers can be used. It is one of the most inventive uses of social service dollars New York City has seen in years, and during a historic housing shortage this creativity is essential.

Many New Yorkers experiencing homelessness need deeply affordable homes and a landlord committed to their long-term stability. Since nonprofits own and manage these buildings, they are uniquely positioned as landlords dedicated to the well-being of their residents. At ICL, our work does not stop at housing. We connect residents to behavioral health care, primary care and recovery supportive services. Our whole-health model ensures that housing stability is paired with the care people need to thrive.

AHS has already created more than 1,000 deeply affordable units, yet the need is far greater. Nearly 13,000 households in shelters hold vouchers but cannot find a landlord willing to accept them. AHS offers a direct and immediate solution for this part of the homelessness crisis. It creates new units faster than traditional development, reduces the financial and human costs of prolonged shelter stays, and provides stable homes for those who need them most. It is not the only answer to solving homelessness in New York City, but as a scalable pathway from shelter to permanent housing, it is one of the strongest tools we have.

To unlock its full potential, AHS must be part of a broader housing strategy that prioritizes nonprofit ownership and expands creative financing sources for supportive and affordable housing. As we scale housing production, we must also fund the on-site social services and create new funding streams for integrated housing and health care that make stability possible.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani has ambitious affordable housing goals. To achieve them, we do not need to start from scratch — we can build on what is working. Mayor Mamdani should invest in AHS, scale it and make it a central solution for New Yorkers who are ready to leave shelter for good.

Every New Yorker deserves what residents at The Atlantic now have: a front door, a key and a home to return to.

Jody Rudin is president and CEO of the Institute for Community Living. Rick Gropper is the founding principal of the Camber Property Group.