Community Housing Innovations, Inc.

Our Mission

Community Housing Innovations, Inc. provides the housing and human services that enable low- and moderate-income families and individuals to achieve the greatest social and economic independence at the lowest cost to society.

Nothing can be more devastating than not having a home. Yet every night, more than 1,000 people - many of them children - turn to CHI for shelter. Operating in Westchester, Nassau, Suffolk, Orange, and Dutchess counties, CHI is the largest provider of emergency housing on Long Island and the second largest in Westchester.
In addition to providing shelter, CHI's professional case managers offer supportive services designed to emphasize self-reliance and the skills people need to secure and maintain permanent housing. Case managers work closely with residents to link them to community services, such as vocational education, job search and health care. The goal: When an individual or family moves to permanent housing, they have the abilities to stay there.

CHI operates a wide variety of homeless housing models, from family centers with more than 100 rooms to scattered-site individual apartments. Though each emergency housing model varies according to local needs and available housing resources, they all provide 24/7 supervision, case management and linkage to community resources in order to move families and individuals to transitional or permanent housing as quickly as possible.

Under contract with the Westchester County Department of Social Services, CHI has purchased, renovated or leased apartments and single-family homes to house homeless families on a scattered-site basis. Families in these transitional housing units are visited regularly by CHI case managers and move quickly toward self-sufficiency and permanent housing. One advantage of scattered-site apartment programs is that they allow families to live independently and reconnect to community resources while receiving supportive services.

On Long Island, CHI also provides emergency housing through a unique model, the Supervised Family Residence (SFR). The SFR houses up to nine families each, living under the supervision of a case manager. Families are able to give each other peer support and encouragement, and everyone benefits from the home-like atmosphere. CHI also provides emergency housing to single adults in a Supervised Singles Residence (SSR), licensed by New York State, using the congregate model and providing intensive case management, including supervision from a psychiatric nurse practitioner.

CHI, in partnership with Suffolk County DSS, operates a service center in Patchogue open to homeless single adults. Clients at the Resource Center receive help with applying for benefits, addressing mental and physical health issues, education, and finding employment. Staffed with experienced social workers, the Resource Center reaches those hardest to serve living in overnight shelters that may lack sufficient resources needed to meet their needs. Opening in late 2013, the Resource Center has already helped a number of clients secure permanent jobs and housing.
In Dutchess and Orange Counties, CHI provides homeless services and security 24/7 in motel-based centers. The support staff help families to stabilize and assist in quickly securing permanent housing.

CHI is partnering with the Housing Development Fund, Inc. (HDF), another regional affordable housing agency, to provide low-cost loans to eligible first-time homebuyers under the SmartMove NY program. Under this program, prospective buyers can put as little as one-percent down and receive low-cost financing that waives the requirement for private mortgage insurance (PMI). To qualify for SmartMove NY, households on Long Island may earn no more than $105,400 annually, and households in Westchester may earn no more than $66,000 annually.

Additionally, homebuyers may be eligible for down-payment assistance grants of up to $25,000 offered by CHI under its Renters into Owners program. Last year, CHI provided nearly $1 million in down-payment grants to buyers in Westchester and Long Island.