THE FORTUNE SOCIETY APPLAUDS CITY COUNCIL FOR PASSAGE OF JUST HOME – INNOVATIVE HOUSING FOR FORMERLY INCARCERATED NEW YORKERS WITH COMPLEX MEDICAL NEEDS SET FOR HEALTH + HOSPITALS/JACOBI CAMPUS

New York, NY (September 25, 2025)—The Fortune Society today commended the New York City Council for the historic passage of the Just Home initiative, an innovative permanent supportive and affordable housing project to be built on the campus of NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi in the Bronx. This milestone follows years of advocacy and public engagement and marks a crucial step toward creating safe, stable, and dignified homes for New Yorkers leaving incarceration who face chronic and complex medical needs and would otherwise experience homelessness.

“At Fortune, we always say that we counter fear with facts. The fact is that providing formerly incarcerated people with supportive housing does not make our neighborhoods less safe—on the contrary, it makes us all safer,” said Stanley Richards, President and CEO of The Fortune Society. “Just Home will prevent physically vulnerable individuals from entering our overburdened shelters, winding up on the streets, or languishing on Rikers Island. As we say at Fortune, everyone deserves a home, and today, the City Council has upheld and affirmed that belief.”

“Expanding access to safe, stable, and affordable homes for New Yorkers, especially those with past involvement in the justice system and complex medical needs, is critical to public safety and confronting the housing crisis,” said New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams. “By approving Just Home on the campus of Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx, the Council is once again demonstrating leadership on housing with action and fulfilling our strong commitment to evidence-based public safety solutions. Despite the mayor and first deputy mayor trying to once again block housing for New Yorkers, we are proud to approve this initiative that can deliver homes and medical services for New Yorkers who would otherwise be homeless and rely on costly emergency room care. I thank my Council colleagues for their support and The Fortune Society for their steadfast dedication to our city.”

The passage of Just Home by the City Council affirms New York City’s leadership in crafting evidence-based, humane responses to homelessness and criminal justice challenges. It comes on the heels of recent legislative victories—such as the Fair Chance for Housing Act, passage of Intro. 1100-A expanding access to supportive housing, and increased funding for the Justice-Involved Supportive Housing (JISH) program—and reflects broad consensus on the need for accessible, safe housing for those most vulnerable in the community.

For nearly six decades, The Fortune Society has been at the forefront of supporting people returning from incarceration, providing vital housing, employment, mental health, and substance use services. In the last fiscal year alone, Fortune served over 18,000 individuals and housed more than 1,200 people on any given night at sites in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Manhattan.

Just Home was initially proposed in July 2022, when The Fortune Society was selected as the project’s developer by NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi (H+H) in partnership with the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). The project aims to address the alarming gap in housing for formerly incarcerated individuals who are released with complex health conditions—many of whom would otherwise languish in shelters ill-equipped for serious medical care.

Just Home will feature a mix of permanent supportive housing and affordable units, modeled after Fortune’s successful Castle Gardens residence in West Harlem, which demonstrates that residents who have been incarcerated can be exemplary neighbors and stable community members. The development will provide comprehensive wraparound supports, including on-site case management, behavioral health treatment, social and recreational programming, medical care coordination with Jacobi and other medical and health care providers, and full integration with Fortune’s broader service offerings across New York City.

The building will be equipped with cameras and have residential aides on-site 24/7, utilizing protocols Fortune has successfully implemented in its other six housing sites throughout the City.

Fortune’s advocacy for Just Home included extensive testimony and engagement with local neighborhoods, ensuring that concerns were heard and addressed, and emphasizing the importance of responsive, family-like environments that build trust and foster well-being among residents.

Just Home is based on Fortune’s nationally recognized Castle Gardens model, which has hosted local and international delegations and has earned acclaim for its successful integration of justice-involved residents into the fabric of neighborhood life. Fortune’s deep commitment to public safety includes transparent community engagement, regular opportunities for dialogue, and outreach programs—like food pantries and educational initiatives—that extend support beyond direct residents to the surrounding neighborhoods based on community need and interest.

“We are deeply grateful to the New York City Council for their leadership, and especially to Speaker Adrienne Adams for championing this initiative,” Richards said. “Thanks also go to our valued partners at NYC Health + Hospitals and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development for their support and vision. Together, we are proving that real change happens when a city comes together to create opportunities and homes for those who need them most. This is what progress looks like, and Fortune is honored to play our part.” Learn more about Just Home here.

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ABOUT THE FORTUNE SOCIETY: Since 1967, The Fortune Society has provided comprehensive, wraparound support to New Yorkers impacted by the criminal legal system through our “one-stop-shop” model of service delivery, which includes: housing, education, employment services, outpatient mental health and substance use treatment, alternatives to incarceration and supervised release programs, health services (including HIV and AIDS services), family services, food and nutrition programming, discharge planning/case management, benefits access, creative arts (including a new on-site music recording studio), care management, a peer-driven recovery center (the NEST), policy advocacy through our David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy (DRCPP), and research through our Center for Research, Inquiry and Social Justice. For more information, visit www.fortunesociety.org.