Domestic violence continues to be a leading cause of homelessness in NYC yet, the vacancy rate in VOA-GNY's domestic violence shelter portfolio is stubbornly high. When uptake of a service with a demonstrated need is low, we have to assume the way we are offering the service is not meeting the needs of persons seeking shelter.   We would like to reimagine our DV shelter portfolio to make the design and service offerings more client centered and attractive to those who are fleeing abuse.

Changes to consider may include converting shared units to private ones, reconfiguring spaces to be more welcoming to people with pets, refurbishing community and programming spaces and introducing new programmatic elements or other ideas.

o   What would the financial implications be in terms of budgeted dollars? 

o   How could those new costs be offset by reducing losses incurred by our high vacancy rate?  Are there other funding sources to consider?

The team would also be asked to consider regulatory requirements and any changes we would need to seek to adopt their recommendations.

The team would be encouraged to research model programs throughout NYC and beyond examining how other programs across the country configure and fund domestic violence shelters, interview program staff and potentially residents to source ideas for changes and make recommendations accordingly.  They would also need to examine program budgets, review funding and regulatory requirements for the current program contracts and model the impact of any proposed changes. 

We would consider the project a success if we could review options for changes and budgetary impacts involved in attempting to align our programs with a more client centered design. This would allow us to update our strategic plan and set goals for fundraising and program development.