New Enhanced Services Pilot Brings Home Health Aides to New Yorkers in Their New Homes
Funded by The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, the new Housing for Health initiative Bridge to Care supports patients experiencing homelessness as they move into permanent housing
Jun 25, 2026
New York, NY – NYC Health + Hospitals’ Housing for Health initiative today announced Bridge to Care, a pilot program funded by The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, which aims to bridge service gaps by providing medically vulnerable patients with supplementary, personalized care to support their adjustment to independent living.
For the pilot program’s launch, Housing for Health partnered with the West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing (WSFSSH) to place 22 NYC Health + Hospitals patients experiencing homelessness into Fischer Senior Apartments, a newly opened 105-unit senior and supportive housing development in the Bronx. Patients receive home health aides funded by NYC Health + Hospitals during the period between move-in and Medicaid approval, covering a service gap that can typically last 45-90 days and ensuring patients’ safe transition into permanent housing. Additional onsite services, including case management, community programming, and a garden, offer residents a supportive environment to call home. Housing for Health will expand the program to support more patients moving into permanent housing as well as evaluate the importance of a care team during the critical period of transition to housing.
Bridge to Care is part of Project ASAP (Accelerated Supportive Housing Application and Placement), a Housing for Health initiative to expedite placements to supportive housing for NYC Health + Hospitals patients. Project ASAP directly supports the health care system’s housing navigation work by equipping patients with the health evaluations required for the approvals needed to access supportive housing around the city, including in housing developed on hospital land.
“We aim to break the hospital-to-shelter cycle that traps many individuals experiencing homelessness by providing them with housing and services that meet their unique needs,” said Leora Jontef, Senior Assistant Vice President of Housing and Real Estate at NYC Health + Hospitals. “Housing for Health continues to develop innovative ways to meet patients where they are. With generous support from the Helmsley Charitable Trust, our patients can move into housing more quickly and with the services they need to stay stably housed.”
“At Helmsley, we know that support during critical transitions in care, especially from the hospital to permanent housing, can be game-changing for the health stability of people experiencing homelessness and health issues. We are dedicated to the work of NYC Health + Hospitals’ Housing for Health initiative in targeting these transitions in care for their patients. Bridge to Care and Project ASAP are innovative projects that will have multiplying impacts for people experiencing homelessness in NYC,” said Tracy Perrizo, New York City Program Officer at the Helmsley Charitable Trust.
“When I was diagnosed with leukemia [last year], that changed my whole life,” said Edward Johnson, NYC Health + Hospitals patient and new resident of Fischer Senior Apartments. “It has been about 5 years since I had my own apartment, and without your help, I don’t know where I would be at. [After the hospital], I was able to go to medical respite and now I have my own home. But it’s not just about having your own place. It’s about having professional help; having people help you get your medicine, help you make appointments, help you get meals on wheels, help you get benefits. I don’t think I would have been able to do this on my own. This is the greatest thing since sliced bread for me. And everyone who is in here is saying the same thing. I just want to thank you. I wouldn’t have been able to do this on my own. Now, I am enthusiastic about my recovery. I am getting chemotherapy and a [bone marrow] transplant. I definitely would not have been able to get that without this home.”
NYC Health + Hospitals’ Housing for Health initiative recognizes that the chronic health issues of unhoused individuals cannot be treated without stable housing. The work focuses on four strategic areas: providing housing navigation services, operating medical respite beds, ground leasing hospital land for the development of affordable and supportive housing, and providing additional supports for patients in permanent housing. To date, more than 1,800 patients have been permanently housed.
If you would like to donate to NYC Health + Hospitals, please visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org/philanthropy/.
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About NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city’s five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system’s trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlusHealth—all supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 46,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.