New Report: How a Trauma-Informed Shelter System Can Reduce Street Homelessness
Report identifies 8 ideas to reform shelters, modernize outdated policy, cut long-term costs for the city
NEW YORK (August 17, 2026) — More than 4,500 New Yorkers choose to sleep on the street rather than enter a city shelter, according to a new report from Volunteers of America-Greater New York (VOA-GNY), one of New York City’s largest and longest-serving shelter providers. The report explains why, and lays out a practical blueprint for change.
“Restoring Dignity: A Blueprint for a Trauma-Informed Shelter System in New York City” documents how decades of rapid expansion left the system reliant on aging, converted buildings poorly suited to housing people in crisis. Outdated approval processes and insufficient funding have made meaningful improvements difficult, sometimes impossible, and conditions inside are undercutting the system’s ability to shelter people with dignity and move people from the street into permanent housing.
“Every New Yorker deserves a shelter that helps them heal, not one that deepens the trauma that brought them there,” said Dr. Jeffrey R. Ginsburg, President and CEO of VOA-GNY. “We wrote this report because we know that dignified and safe shelters are both possible and urgently needed. We’ve designed them, we’ve piloted them, and we’ve seen what they do for the people we serve. What’s standing in the way isn’t a lack of ideas or effort. It’s outdated structures and processes, and this report shows exactly how to fix them. We’re ready to work with the City to get it done.”
The report also documents what’s working and demonstrates the range of VOA-GNY’s design expertise. At a larger scale, the organization has developed intentionally designed supportive housing, including East Clarke Place Senior Residence, with accessible features and welcoming community spaces that promote mobility, independence, and connection among older adults.
Through its Property Revitalization Project, VOA-GNY also has completed low-cost, high-impact upgrades to implement trauma-informed design modifications across its portfolio, replacing harsh lighting and broken blinds in a domestic violence shelter and refreshing family recreation spaces, among other projects. Residents report measurable improvements in how safe and settled they feel.
At the center of the report is a renovation project at VOA-GNY’s Schwartz Men’s Shelter on Wards Island, a 335-bed, city-owned facility in a building dating to the 1930s. In June, VOA-GNY and DHS began a trauma-informed renovation of one of the shelter’s dorms, the dining area, and the recreation room to reduce noise, increase privacy, and create a calmer environment, following DHS’s approval of the project in 2024. Significant additional investment is needed to stabilize the entire facility, address underlying safety issues, and improve overall quality.
To scale those improvements across the more than 300 shelters in the city’s system, VOA-GNY’s report lays out eight policy recommendations:
- Prevent homelessness and improve housing outcomes to lessen demand on the shelter system over time.
- Conduct a capital needs assessment of the DHS/HRA shelter systems to identify buildings that can benefit from reinvestment.
- Update the DHS model budget to reflect rising costs and adequately fund building maintenance, so small problems don’t escalate into more costly ones that impact residents’ quality of life.
- Create a dedicated renovation and preservation fund for major repairs and trauma-informed redesign projects in City-owned shelters.
- Transfer ownership of City-owned shelters to nonprofit operators, freeing them to invest directly, leverage independent financing, and improve accountability.
- Empower nonprofit operators in the capital process in the interim, including the ability to use their own funds for smaller-scale projects without extended approval processes.
- Embed trauma-informed design standards systemwide for all new construction and major renovations.
- Invest in purpose-built, population-specific shelters as demand fluctuates, using demand projections to align the pipeline with need.
The full report is available at https://www.voa-gny.org/annual-report/policy-report-restoring-dignity
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About Volunteers of America-Greater New York
Volunteers of America-Greater New York (VOA-GNY) is an anti-poverty organization with a rich 130-year history of serving its neighbors in need. The organization’s vision is fueled by its experience as a leading provider of services to families and individuals experiencing homelessness in the Greater New York area. Through 70+ programs located in New York City, Northern New Jersey, and Westchester County — including emergency shelters, transitional housing, and permanent supportive housing — VOA-GNY delivers services to more than 35,000 adults and children annually. It is also the largest provider of residential services for veterans within a coalition that has virtually ended chronic homelessness for veterans in New York City.
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