Shelter Advocacy Project

To get help from the Shelter Advocacy Project, call 212-626-7383.

Overview

The City Bar Justice Center’s Shelter Advocacy Project (SAP), previously known as the Legal Clinic for the Homeless, provides advice, advocacy, and limited-scope representation on urgent and unmet legal needs of people experiencing homelessness in New York City. SAP partners with shelter providers, community organizations, law firms, corporate legal departments, and other entities to bring needed legal services to people in temporary housing throughout NYC. 

More than 120,000 people, including over 44,000 children, sleep in New York City homeless shelters each night, while over 200,000 people are doubled up in the homes of family and friends without permanent housing of their own. Of those experiencing homelessness in New York City, the overwhelming majority come from communities historically deprived of equal access to stable housing and employment due to racism and other forms of structural inequality. These historic socioeconomic factors, combined with today’s high cost of housing, food, transportation, clothing, Wi-Fi, cell service, and other necessities, create barriers for individuals residing in shelters and other temporary housing to achieve stability and independence. 

SAP assists people experiencing homelessness and those who have recently secured permanent housing to: 

• Overcome denials of access to shelter,  

• Secure priceless belongings in storage while seeking permanent housing,  

• Ensure people receive the reasonable accommodations that they need in temporary housing, 

• Resolve housing voucher issues that delay relocation to permanent housing, and 

• Assist with other needs related to relocation to permanent housing. 

SAP advocates continue to contest denials and errors of Cash Assistance and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, and shelter, public housing, and rental assistance supplements, continuing to build on the legacy of SAP’s forerunner, the Legal Clinic for the Homeless. Above all, SAP aims to help families in shelter and those who have left shelter get on the road to economic and housing stability.                                      

Amelia Toledo directs the Shelter Advocacy Project and Rebeka Cabrera is the project coordinator.

Not sure if this is the right project? Contact our free Legal Hotline at 212-626-7383.