State Senator Leroy Comrie hosted a Housing Benefits Overview Webinar on April 3rd. The event was free and open to the public to access online via Zoom.
The Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation gave a presentation on all the housing benefits available to citizens. Among other programs, participants learned about CityFHEPS, Section 8, and DRIE.
CityFHEPS (the City Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement) is a rental assistance program that helps individuals and families find and keep housing. CityFHEPS pays part of eligible tenants monthly rent anywhere in New York State for up to five years.
Section 8 (also known as the Housing Choice Voucher Program) helps low-income families, elderly persons, veterans, and disabled individuals afford housing in the private market.
The DRIE benefit assists eligible tenants with disabilities by freezing their rent at the current level and exempting them from future rent increases.
Tiffany Afiliano, an experienced litigator who has represented and defended hundreds of people around the four boroughs from eviction and the housing crisis, shared valuable information. “This is meant to be an overview of many of the benefits offered to folks,” Afiliano stated, and continued by asserting that the most effective benefit is cash assistance. “Cash assistance is available to people for a short period of time, and truly it isn’t as much money as it should be. But it helps people who are experiencing hardship.”
For more information on future events, log onto https://www.nysenate.gov/senator/leroy-comrie