Care For the Homeless

The current administration has continuously targeted federal benefit programs important to low-income Americans for drastic cuts. A new effort follows suit by proposing a change to how the ‘poverty threshold’ is to be calculated, which will decrease the number of people eligible for important federal benefit programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid. This would affect millions of extremely low-income individuals and families. The current measurement called the “consumer price index (CPI)” has been used for a long time to set the annualized increases in the official poverty threshold. The administration is considering using what is known as “the chained CPI”, a different inflation measure that would result in a slower annual increase of inflation over time. “Chained CPI” assumes that as the prices of goods go up, individuals substitute less expensive items, thereby reducing their overall expenses. Why is this important? The proposed change wou...

Every year, Care for the Homeless serves over 8,000 homeless men, women and children. Last year, your contributions helped us provide critical care to over 3,000 uninsured clients. People experiencing homelessness face several barriers to being insured.   Care for the Homeless provides critical medical, dental and mental health care, regardless of insurance coverage.  Our commitment to providing care to those who need it most is unwavering. More than 35% of our clients are uninsured, and your support helps us serve the most vulnerable.   We're often asked about the clients we serve and how the new Affordable Care Act will help the homeless in NYC and throughout the U.S.  Under the Affordable Care Act, Care for the Homeless is increasing outreach and enrollment efforts.  Medicaid enrollment can be life-changing for homeless individuals and families at risk of long-term homelessness. Hundreds of uninsured homeless New Yorkers received Medicaid...

Care for the Homeless has joined the National Health Care for the Homeless Council (where our Executive Director, Bobby Watts, currently serves as Board President) and 22 other national, regional or local organizations across the country that provide services to or advocate for people experiencing homelessness, to file a set of reactions and recommendations regarding eligibility and enrollment in an expanded Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”).  The filing submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on February 21 st designed to make the Medicaid process and exchanges operated under the ACA more effective, more efficient and to enable greater access for homeless people and in turn cut costs of the program. The recommendations deal with the special needs of poor and unstably housed persons. For example, one recommendation suggests flexibility in documentation requirements and provision of assistance in meeting enrollment requirements for tho...

Working as a Medicaid consultant, Leslie Bell had been to Susan’s Place while doing chart reviews, but it was a chance conversation with Lesley Moody, a Health Educator for CFH, that really showed her what Susan’s Place and CFH was all about. Drawn by wanting to help the women there, she applied for an available position with the agency and after waiting for months, she got the call she had been hoping for. “I just knew I was going to be here. When I got that phone call to come in, I didn’t just come over, I ran over,” she laughs. “It’s a blessing because I’ve always been interested in working with the homeless population.” Leslie’s passion for helping people emerged years earlier, when her sister passed away after a battle with HIV.  She promised her sister she would learn more about HIV and how to help others with the disease. “I was there every step of the way with her,” Leslie said. “I was interested in working with the AIDS population because it hit close to home. Seve...

The Peter J. Sharp Men's Health Day was a success thanks to all the hard work from the CFH Health Education team! (pictured below with Executive Director Bobby Watts) For more information on the CFH Health Education programs, click HERE .