Our new illustrated guide walks New Yorkers living in public housing through what they need to stay safely, affordably housed.
Stable, affordable housing is a basic human right. Nothing embodies that more than public housing. But for many tenants of New York City’s Housing Authority, getting a rent adjustment, renewing a lease, or making sure you’re not overpaying can be complicated—and failing to do so can put you at risk of losing your home.
That’s why we teamed up with the Center for Urban Pedagogy, designer Bo-Won Keum, and illustrator Mark Nerys with funding from Senator Chuck Schumer to create “Papelitos Hablan,” or “Let The Papers Do the Talking”—an illustrated guide that walks public housing residents through the steps they need to take to keep their rent affordable. The guide—available in Spanish, English, and Chinese, with accompanying posters—covers everything from accurately reporting income to keeping track of expenses that might warrant a rent reduction.
With help from NYCHA, the guide will be shared out widely among tenants and community advocates to make sure as many people as possible have the education they need to maintain stable, affordable housing for themselves and their families.
This work is one of many initiatives we’re leading to foster stability by keeping people in their homes and helping tenants access the power they already have. In New York and New Jersey, we educate tenants about their rights, provide relief for people facing eviction, help residents navigate housing court, and work to promote financial literacy so people can meet their expenses on time.
One resident of Brooklyn’s Red Hook Houses, Gregory Rodriguez, shared that our housing team at the Red Hook Community Justice Center helped him get an urgent rent adjustment after he lost his job during Covid. “Let’s say if I didn’t get the rent adjustment, I’d owe probably $20,000 in rent,” said Rodriguez.
Even modest investments in support and education for public housing residents can have huge downstream benefits, preventing the lasting harms of evictions and building a deeper sense of stability in people’s lives. As the need for stable, affordable housing comes into stark relief across the country, it’s more urgent than ever to put knowledge and resources in the hands of all tenants, especially those living in public housing.