Property Owners and Building Managers Learn how to Add a Homeless Veteran Preference to their Waiting Lists

From left to right: Anthony Barnes, U.S. Army Veteran; Susan Camerata, Owner, Wavecrest Management; Brett Wise, HUD Multifamily Northeast Regional Director; Yong Ju Kim, Director, Homeless Placement Services (HPS), NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD); Dean Santa, HUD NY/NJ Asset Management Division Director; Lynne Patton, HUD Regional Administrator for New York and New Jersey; Loree Sutton, MD, Brigadier General, US Army (Ret.), Commissioner, NYC Department of Veterans Services; Carissa Janis, Program Analyst, HUD Asset Management & Portfolio Oversight; Robert Pulster, Regional Coordinator, U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness; Nicole Branca, Assistant Commissioner and Senior Advisor, Housing and Support Services, NYC Department of Veterans Services; Hannah Weiss, Director of Housing Initiatives, NYC Department of Veterans Services.

HUD Regional Administrator Lynne Patton highlights the veteran preference option.

Brett Wise, HUD Multifamily Northeast Regional Director delivers opening remarks.

HUD Multifamily Northeast Region invited HUD-subsidized private property owners and building managers for a day of information and panel discussions on adding a Homeless Preference to their waiting lists. The event brought together local owners from New York and New Jersey; HUD Multifamily leadership and staff; the NYC Department of Veterans Services; and the NYC Department of Housing, Preservation and Development. The goal was to highlight the advantages of adding a homeless preference to their waiting lists and guide them through the application process.

Adding a Homeless Preference to Multifamily buildings helps provide permanent housing to men and women who served in the armed forces and do not have a roof over their heads. The process is easy, and it can change the lives of those who served our country, while improving local communities' quality of life.

Speakers and panelists included: Lynne Patton, HUD Regional Administrator for New York and New Jersey; Brett Wise, HUD Multifamily Northeast Regional Director; Dean Santa, HUD NY/NJ Asset Management Division Director; Loree Sutton, MD, Brigadier General, US Army (Ret.), Commissioner, NYC Department of Veterans Services; Carissa Janis, Program Analyst, HUD Asset Management & Portfolio Oversight; Robert Pulster, Regional Coordinator, U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness; Nicole Branca, Assistant Commissioner and Senior Advisor, Housing and Support Services, NYC Department of Veterans Services; Hannah Weiss, Director of Housing Initiatives, NYC Department of Veterans Services; Yong Ju Kim, Director, Homeless Placement Services (HPS), NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD); Susan Camerata, Owner of Wavecrest Management; and Anthony Barnes, U.S. Army Veteran.

Click here for more information on including a homeless preference in waiting lists (www.hudexchange.info/homelessness-assistance/multifamily-housing-owners-managers/#assisted-multifamily-housing-owners-and-managers), or contact HUD Northeast Multifamily Division Resolution Specialist Brenda Benjamin at Brenda.P.Benjamin@HUD.gov.

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