Rockaway Beach, Queens - Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Rockaway Beach) today expressed her support for the Home Stability Support (HSS) Act. HSS, sponsored by Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forrest Hills), is $450 million program that would replace all existing city and state rental supplements with a single new statewide program. According to the HSS’s website: “Home Stability Support (HSS) will be a statewide rent supplement for families and individuals who are eligible for public assistance benefits and who are facing eviction, homelessness, or loss of housing due to domestic violence or hazardous living conditions. HSS will be 100% federally and state-funded, and will replace all existing optional rent supplements.”

“I’m proud to be a co-sponsor of HSS. The growing housing crisis must be addressed immediately.  The most vulnerable families and individuals in this state deserve to receive meaningful, long-term assistance- not homeless hotels or temporary shelters as we have seen popping up across the city,” Pheffer Amato said. “The HSS is the solution we need to rectify the cities failed homeless policies currently in place and I urge the Governor to support this measure.”

Recently, elected officials were notified of a proposed homeless shelter in Rockaway Beach Queens, specifically on Beach 101^st street within Pheffer Amato’s district that would serve as temporary housing for over 100 single adult men. Pheffer Amato, along with local leaders, voiced their concern with the shelter citing lack of resources and close proximity to several schools. “The shelter proposed on 101^st street is completely misguided and irresponsible. Placing vulnerable individuals in a vulnerable area with no resources is a huge mistake and just goes to show how the city has no idea how to help the increasing homeless population. HSS is the approach we need to solve long-term homelessness,” concluded Pheffer Amato.