New York Times Features BRC Clients and Shelters in Article on Housing Affordability

About a third of the families living in New York City’s homeless shelters, not including migrants, have at least one adult who gets up and goes to work. But their salaries — some as high as $40,000 or $50,000 or more — are outmatched by the depth of the city’s affordability crisis and the severity of its housing crunch.

Kuber Sancho-Persad standing in front of his late father's Toyota Cressida

Kuber Sancho-Persad, who has been living in BRC's Blue Sky Residence since the summer of 2023, works full time as a taxi driver but still cannot afford housing in New York City.

Diamond Hammond found his way to BRC's Reaching New Heights shelter in the Bronx when his landlord raised the rent on the room he sublet to a rate he could no longer afford. For most of his adult life, he has been gainfully employed but still struggles to make enough money to outpace the city's high cost of living.

NY Times affordability reporter, Eliza Shapiro, spoke to Sancho-Persad, Hammond, and others who are experiencing homelessness and navigating the NYC shelter system - even though they work full-time jobs.

Read "They Work All Day and Go Home to Shelters" in the New York Times.