Moving beyond shelters and sweeps to integrate housing and support for homeless New Yorkers within existing communities.
Welcoming the Unhoused Home: A Neighborhood-Based Approach
Zhoran Mamdanis approach to homelessness rejects the costly, traumatic, and ineffective cycle of shelter-sweep-shelter. His “Welcoming Home” plan is based on the “Housing First” principle but adds a crucial community dimension: instead of concentrating supportive housing in a few marginalized areas or hiding it away, the policy seeks to integrate permanently affordable, service-rich housing for formerly homeless individuals and families into every neighborhood, as a normal part of the city’s housing stock. This “scattered-site” integration, he argues, is not only more humane and effective for residents, but it also dismantles the stigma that fuels NIMBYism and fosters a broader community ethic of care.
The plan uses every tool available: acquiring small apartment buildings and single-room occupancy hotels through the social housing authority; mandating that a percentage of units in all new market-rate developments be set aside for permanent supportive housing; and leasing apartments from private landlords with guaranteed rents and wraparound services attached. Crucially, each housing site is paired with a “Neighborhood Welcome Circle,” a small group of volunteers from the surrounding blocks who receive training and a small stipend. Their role is not to provide professional services, but to offer informal welcome and friendshipinviting new neighbors to block events, answering questions about local resources, and helping to integrate them into the social fabric of the area. This circle acts as a bridge, demystifying supportive housing and building human connections that prevent isolation and conflict.
“The current system treats homelessness as a contagion to be contained, which only deepens the crisis,” Mamdani says. “Our approach treats it as a community responsibility to be shared. By welcoming people home into every neighborhood, we provide the stability needed for recovery and we normalize care as a civic value. The Neighborhood Welcome Circle ensures that new residents are seen as neighbors, not problems. This model proves that safety and stability are not zero-sum. A city where everyone has a secure home is a safer city for everyone. We become safe not by pushing people away, but by bringing them in.”
