Institute for Community Living Nevins Street Apartments Celebrates a Year of Changing Lives, by Nathan Weiser

A year ago, Yumedys Gonzalez was one of the more than 22,000 New Yorkers living in a shelter. And like so many, she clung to the dream of one day having her own home.

Nevins Street Apartments, which reopened in May 2022 at 50 Nevis Street in a new 10-story, $72 million downtown Brooklyn development, seemed just right.

“I would stand outside of Nevins and envision one day living here,” Gonzalez said.

It didn’t take long for her to stop imagining. That spring, she moved into one of its 129 affordable units.

“I love living here because of the peace it gives me, the supportive staff, and how I can be independent,” she said. “I’ve proved to myself that I can do this.”

As Nevins celebrated the one-year anniversary of its new building, Gonzalez’s experience reflects the positive impact it has had on its residents and the community.

Operated by the Institute for Community Living (ICL), Nevins Street Apartments is a permanent housing program for homeless New Yorkers and those experiencing serious mental health challenges.

ICL has run Nevins for 30 years as a licensed transitional housing facility, according to the city. When it was redeveloped, its single rooms were converted into individual apartments earmarked for those previously housed in Department of Homeless Services (DHS) shelters and Office of Mental Health (OMH)-licensed transitional living places.

These new affordable units, coupled with the ICL’s focus on addressing residents’ physical, mental, and social needs — what it calls “whole health” — Nevins offers a unique model for tackling the city’s dual mental health and housing crises.

“Housing is the best prescription for health and wellbeing,” said Jody Rudin, ICL president and CEO. “Nevins Street Apartments proves that providing a safe place to call home and whole health services can help those struggling with severe mental challenges get better.”

Central to that effort are Nevins’ 78 units of supportive housing, defined by the city as “affordable housing with supportive social services in place for individuals and families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.”

There are 82 residents living in Nevins’ supportive housing, including individuals with mental health or substance abuse issues, veterans, young adults who have aged out of foster care, and a handful of families in two-bedroom units.

Nevins’ supportive housing residents can access integrated physical and mental health care, as well ICL counselors and case managers who help guard them against social isolation and support them, and their families and children, with financial, nutrition and health education.

Sharon Sorrentino, ICL’s vice president for child, family, and young adult services, said that in the year since Nevins reopened, residents in its supportive housing are happier, healthier, and more independent than they were before moving in.

“[Nevins] is placed in a neighborhood that has a lot of opportunities for people in terms of getting out, exercising, and eating healthy foods,” Sorrentino said. “In addition to the services we provide, we are also able to link people to things in the community that will help them achieve whole health.”

The scope of Nevins’ impact is found in the data.

In the last year, 90% of supportive living residents have not required psychiatric emergency room visits or hospitalization. More than one third are connected to mental health services, 87% are at reduced risk for substance abuse, and the number of residents seeing a primary care physician has more than doubled.

“Those are really helpful indicators that people are connected to whole health,” Sorrentino said.

ICL Nevins Street’s whole-health program begins at move-in.

Transitioning from a shelter or temporary housing to something more permanent can be challenging. To help in the adjustment, ICL offers residential treatment and support services for six to nine months to ensure individuals are acclimated and settled in the downtown Brooklyn community.

There are no psychiatrists on site, but there are counselors and case managers who can link residents with needed services like mental health or substance abuse treatment. Many residents can receive in-unit assistance from home health aides and care coordinators. And ICL will help with family reunification if a resident’s child or children are placed in foster care.

That’s all on top of the amenities you’d expect in new-build housing: 24-hour front desk security, a computer lab, bike parking, a community room, a multi-purpose room, a laundry room, an exercise room, and tenant storage.

“Our goal in supporting whole health is helping people live their best life, meaning doing as much as they can out in the community being active but also making sure that their needs get met at home,” Sorrentino said.

Like many other parts of Brooklyn, downtown is in the midst of large-scale change, from a reimagined branch of the Brooklyn Public Library to skyscraper-scale housing developments to a proposed $40 million overhaul of Fulton Mall. Scaffolding and construction fencing are as common as street vendors and double parking.

The new ICL Nevins Street, which also includes 6,000 square feet of commercial space, is part of this overhaul. And it has been welcomed with open arms—and sometimes closed streets for block parties.

“This project represents exactly what we need more of in New York City,” Mayor Eric Adams said at the May 2022 ribbon cutting, “collaboration between city and state to provide affordable homes for families in shelters, New Yorkers struggling with mental health challenges, or veterans who have served our country bravely and need a place to call home.”

It’s a sentiment echoed a year later by city council member Lincoln Restler, who represents downtown Brooklyn.

“Supportive housing is a critical component of ending homelessness in New York City, and this is a model for how we can ensure folks have the resources they need to get on their feet,” he said.

Support for housing the previously homeless and those with mental health needs is often cause for contention. The embrace of Nevins and its residents is a happy exception — hopefully not the last — and as important for improving the lives of some of New York’s neediest as having a stable, permanent place to live.

“It has been nice to have that sense of community in the area,” Sorrentino said. “‘Whole health’ encompasses everything. It is your physical and mental health care, but also how you connect to the community.”