• Online Conference, 9:00am – 2:00pm
• Affordable Housing Tour & Community Conversation (in-person), 4:00pm – 6:00pm

Click here to RSVP

For many decades, the New York metropolitan area has suffered from an increasing shortage of affordable housing. The Covid-19 pandemic as well as the upsurge in migrant arrivals have only increased the need for housing. Market rents in New York City are increasing faster than in any large city in the country. This is no surprise given the combination of restrictive development policies and steep population growth from the previous decade. As New York City begins to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, market rents have sharply risen leaving low-income individuals to be faced with upscale redevelopment projects and rising rents they cannot afford. Faith leaders and their communities play a unique role in addressing the housing crisis. Faith-based organizations and houses of worship are responding to skyrocketing housing prices with initiatives ranging from protests and policy proposals to efforts to build affordable homes on under-utilized property owned by houses of worship.

Clergy members, lay leaders, and faith-based activists have long been at the forefront of our society’s response to housing, particularly in marginalized communities. But faith leaders are taking on new roles in the current crisis by utilizing their houses of worship as temporary housing for those in need, as well as building new affordable housing sites on their house of worship land. This conference will highlight concrete steps faith leaders can take to address the affordable housing crisis in their local communities and beyond. Tirdof: New York Jewish Clergy for Justice, a project of JFREJ an T'ruah, is co-sponsoring this event.

The conference will feature a keynote address from Brad Lander, New York City Comptroller. The conference will be followed by a community conversation at an affordable housing site at Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement. Please see the detailed schedule below.

The conference is open to all religious and civic leaders. It will be held on Zoom — registered participants will receive the Zoom link after registering. The affordable housing tour and community conversation will begin at 4:00pm sharp. Please meet us in front of Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement at 256 West 153rd Street, New York, NY 10039.