The Brooklyn Health & Housing Consortium (Brooklyn Consortium) at NYU Langone engages in comprehensive activities and forums to foster cross-sector relationships, inform policy, and build the capacity of frontline workers to support people with unmet health and housing needs.

Cross-Sector Collaboration

Our group fosters collaborations across healthcare, housing, homeless and social services, and government sectors via case conferences and an annual convening.

Case Conferences

Responding to a need for better care coordination for housing-insecure clients and patients, inter-agency case conferences bring together stakeholders from homeless outreach, supportive housing and social service staff with hospital emergency department clinicians, inpatient social workers, and discharge planners to present case studies as well as collaboratively troubleshoot solutions and build relationships. Case conferences are held quarterly and led by Casey Burke, program director of the Street to Home Program, Breaking Ground.

Annual Convening

In partnership with the Bronx Health & Housing Consortium, the Brooklyn Consortium hosts Annual Convenings to bring together professionals across the healthcare, housing, homeless and social services, and government sectors to showcase work being done to support people with unmet health and housing needs across Brooklyn and the Bronx, and throughout New York City.

The Brooklyn Consortium hosted its inaugural Annual Convening in a virtual forum on December 2 and 3, 2020. The 2020 Annual Convening highlighted cross-sector program innovations and policy changes in response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, and discussed lessons learned and opportunities for further collaboration. The two-day convening featured welcoming remarks from New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie, a student-led presentation on health and housing Participatory Action Research in Brooklyn, and a keynote presentation on “Centering Racial Equity in Health and Housing Partnerships” by Peggy Bailey, Vice President for Housing Policy at the Center on Budget Policy and Priorities. The convening also featured panel discussions on Building Bridges Across Sectors: How to Form Partnerships Between Hospitals and Street Homeless Outreach; Connecting in Isolation: Caring for Older Adults During COVID-19 and Keeping Them at Home; and, Looking Back and Moving Forward: Lessons Learned from COVID-19 Isolation Hotels and Promoting Long-Term Health and Housing.

Learn more about the Annual Convening and view the 2020 Annual Convening session recordings, and its summary and closing remarks by Pascale Leone, Vice President of Diversity and Equity at the Corporation for Supportive Housing.

Trainings and Education

To help expand the capabilities of frontline staff in healthcare, housing, homeless and social service organizations, we host cross-sector trainings and COVID-19 town halls.

Cross-Sector Training

The Brooklyn Consortium hosts various trainings for frontline staff in healthcare, housing, homeless and social services organizations on topics related to homelessness prevention. In-person and virtual training partners include organizations such as the Legal Aid Society, NYLAG (New York Legal Assistance Group) Breaking Ground, and the Fortune Society. The Brooklyn Consortium has hosted trainings on topics that include rent arrears grants, housing 101, supporting patients with justice involvement in primary care, new rent laws, shelter rights, the New York City rental assistance supplement program (CityFHEPS), housing court proceedings, Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance programs, and the eviction moratoria.

COVID-19 Town Halls

Together with the Bronx Consortium, the Brooklyn Consortium organizes town halls for frontline staff to learn and ask questions to government agency representatives and health experts about guidance and updates to New York City’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which frequently surround updates that have been implemented to-date in the homeless services and homelessness prevention systems. To date, the Brooklyn Consortium has hosted town halls on topics that involve substance use treatment, isolation hotels, mental health among essential frontline workers, keeping New Yorkers housed during the pandemic, food and rental assistance, caring for homeless patients during COVID-19, and vaccinations for individuals experiencing homelessness. These town halls have brought together more than 1,100 participants across over 170 organizations.

View previous town hall recordings and resources. Please note that guidance and information provided in past town halls may have changed since the time of the recording.

Research and Advocacy

We are building our research and advocacy efforts to help broaden community understanding of homelessness on the healthcare system.

Hospital Homeless Count

On the same night of the New York City Homeless Outreach Population Estimate throughout New York City streets and subways, the Brooklyn Consortium in partnership with the Bronx Consortium conducts an independent effort to count the number of people experiencing homelessness who were seeking care or shelter in New York City hospitals. This is an effort to better understand and advocate for this “hidden homeless” population, as well as the implications of homelessness on the healthcare system. Read more about Hospital Homeless Count.

Contact Us

If you would like to participate or collaborate with us in any of these activities, please contact Harmony Arcilla, MPH, CHES, project coordinator, at harmony.arcilla@nyulangone.org.