A victim of potential housing department cuts: domestic violence survivors who need homes 

Warnings about more cuts for HUD have been circulating, whether it be its budget or staff; the Washington Post reported the department’s workforce is expected to be slashed in half, according to an internal memo it obtained. So it’s a waiting game for one nonprofit that provides permanent housing for domestic violence survivors and depends on HUD money. 

“If we lose this funding, it will get people killed,” New Destiny Chief Executive Nicole Branca told Fortune. 

Domestic violence survivors and their children often need housing assistance to escape their abusers, especially in places such as New York City, where her nonprofit is located, and where rent is 62% higher than the national average. 

The Department of Housing and Urban Development and DOGE did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment. 

New Destiny finds apartments for survivors throughout the city and pays those landlords via funding that comes from HUD’s Continuum of Care program. The nonprofit receives about $3.5 million in HUD Continuum of Care grants for that, a third of its budget. This year, New Destiny has helped about 300 households through this funding, all survivors of domestic violence, who are mostly women. Some years it’s as much as 400 survivors and their families.

HUD Secretary Scott Turner recently said that funds from Continuum of Care were not being used as intended—to end homelessness—but “as a tool by the left to push a woke agenda,” which makes Branca nervous about what will happen to the program. 

“We’re very concerned because if we lost funding we would have to immediately stop paying rent,” she said. “In a city where rent is as high as it is and the vacancy rate for new apartments is as low as it is, we absolutely without any exaggeration would see a huge percentage of our families go almost immediately either back into shelter or back to their abuser.”

If HUD’s headcount is slashed, there won’t be anyone to reimburse New Destiny, and it would slow everything down because they don’t have enough cash on hand, Branca said. NPR reported HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development, which administers the Continuum of Care funding, is expected to lose 84% of its staff, according to a document it reviewed.

Once you lose trust with landlords because you miss a rent payment, they won’t rent to you again, Branca said—and it is already difficult to get landlords to accept tenants on rental assistance, though they’re required to by law. Even a suspicion that the money might be going away could push landlords to pull back. Not to mention, it’s more expensive to house survivors in shelters, where many would be without permanent housing.

It costs about $11,000 a year to put a survivor in permanent housing versus $100,000 a year in shelters, according to New Destiny. That’s because of New York City’s right to shelter, which allows anyone who shows up asking for a place to sleep to get a bed somewhere, even if it’s an expensive hotel in midtown, New Destiny explained. But the shelter system comes with more bureaucracy, too, so that requires staff, contracts, and other things that add up. Even so, being in a shelter means they’re still homeless.

Still, it goes beyond New Destiny. The Continuum of Care program provides $3 billion for homelessness across the country; New York City receives $175 million in that amount for 165 homeless initiatives that help 11,000 households, according to Branca. And it isn’t only for survivors of domestic violence. It’s to house those subjected to stalking and sexual assault, each disproportionately affects women.