NYC NOW - April 18, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: April 18, 2024

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is launching a new public dashboard this Thursday, that offers a detailed look at the city's shelter population by age and demographic. Meanwhile, the New York City Council is considering a bill to make it easier to tip delivery drivers after a city law mandated an increase in pay that delivery companies pay workers. Plus, about half of the mental health clubhouses operating in New York City are losing city funding and might have to close down. Despite criticism, Mayor Eric Adams says he wants to build larger clubhouses in favor of smaller ones to serve more people. WNYC’s Michael Hill speaks with our healthcare reporter Caroline Lewis, and Lisa Farmer, a member of LifeLinks, one of the clubhouses in danger of shutting down.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Thursday, April 18th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. New York City controller, Brad Lander, is launching a new public dashboard today that offers a detailed look at the city's shelter population by age and demographic. WMIC's Karen Yee reports. The dashboard shows about 120,000 New York. workers are living in homeless shelter. Even though that's largely driven by new migrant arrivals, the non-migrant shelter population also grew slightly by about 10% during this fiscal

year. But among the starkest trends found in the data is a rise in the number of homeless children. Nearly 30,000 kids were staying in a shelter run by the Department of Homeless Services last year. That's the biggest number in nearly a decade. There were also about 13,000 infants or children five years older younger who spent a night in shelter in 2023. The New York City Council is considering a bill to make it easier to tip delivery drivers. apps such as DoorDash and Uber move the option to tip workers to after the order is delivered. It happened after a city law mandated the companies increase how much they pay workers. Shuan Jang owns pop price in Q Gardens. He tells W&MIC's Brian Lair that to pay the increased minimum wage for delivery workers, apps are passing those

cost on to customers, and that's hurting his business. They charge more fees from the customer, but we lost customer because they don't have money, extra money to spend on delivery. Under the council bill, customers still would have the option not to tip. They would have the choice to decide before the order arrives. The app companies say they change tipping options to offset customer costs. 47 with cloud, showers by midday or so afternoon, and then Cloudian 52 and windy. and then tomorrow, mostly cloudy and 58.

Warmer on Saturday with sunshine. Stay close. There's more after the break. About half of the mental health clubhouses operating in New York City are losing city funding and might have to shut their doors. Clubhouses are community spaces for people with serious mental health issues. Mayor Eric Adams is not abandoning the model instead. He's investing in bigger clubhouses that serve more people

and cutting out the smaller ones. But many New Yorkers who use clubhouses have protested the changes. We're talking today with WNMIC health reporter, Caroline Lewis, and Lisa Farmer. Farmer is a member of lifelinks, one of the clubhouses in danger of shutting down. Caroline, Lisa, let's get straight to this. Caroline, would you give us some background on the clubhouse model for those who are unfamiliar with it? So clubhouses are really unique within the mental health system in that members and staff work together to run these community spaces. and organize different activities.

It's not really hierarchical. And then they also help connect members to employment and housing and all these other services. And so, you know, even though clubhouses are still relatively unknown, they've actually been around for decades. The model was actually pioneered in New York by Fountain House, a clubhouse that's still standing in Midtown and was founded by former mental patients in the 1940s.

And they're about 16 in the city now and a few hundred around the world. And studies have found that they can really help improve members' quality of life, keep people out of the hospital, and ultimately reduce health care spending. Lisa, as we said, you're a clubhouse member. What is it about them that appeals to you? The clubhouse is a place that I can feel comfortable with my own mental health issues, knowing that everyone there shares a similar kind of problem, and I won't be judged. and I can feel comfortable with a smaller number of people and work out some of my issues. Caroline, what exactly is the city's plan for clubhouses moving forward? So the city is actually making an unprecedented investment in clubhouses right now

by doubling the current funding to $30 million a year. And, you know, the health commissioner actually used to be CEO of Fountain House, one of the clubhouses, and his goal is to triple the number of New Yorkers who participate in this. these centers, from 5,000 now to about 15,000. And the Health Department is now in the process of awarding new clubhouse contracts since the existing ones expire in June. But many of the current operators are not getting their funding renewed. The City Health Department released these really ambitious new requirements that every clubhouse had to meet back in September and basically said everyone has to reapply. And so those requirements include having at least 300

active members, which many, you know, don't have not being based in an institutional setting like a hospital, not serving, you know, sort of a niche population, such as older adults. And some clubhouses realized, you know, at the time, that they would not be able to qualify for funding with these requirements and just didn't bother applying. Others applied but were rejected. And so one of those that did not apply was LifeLinks, the clubhouse that Lisa attends. And that's based out of Elmhurst Hospital. Lisa, would you tell us about why you started going to life lengths and what it's meant to you in dealing with mental health challenges?

I had basically been almost a shut-in. I was isolated. I didn't leave my home for about 10 years. And I was hospitalized. And then I went into like a partial hospital program where they were trying to, you know, introduced me to more people, socialize me, get me out of isolation. And when that program ended, the clubhouse was a place that they sent me to as an option for trying to continue socialization and not be as isolated.

And I found that I was comfortable with knowing that other people there were also suffering from anxiety issues like me and were aware of how to handle people who have dealt with serious trauma. And so it just became a comfortable place that I knew I wouldn't be judged. And I could try to gain more skills, you know, for computers or for work or learning had to cook and more adult behaviors. and just be comfortable and get out of my head and get out of my apartments and meet people. Well, tell us, Lisa, what do you think then of the mayor's plan for lifelings? I'm extremely grateful that the city is investing in clubhouses and recognizes how important it is for people to, you know, gain more confidence and get out there and be able to help other people rather than remain isolated.

but I think that my fear is that only having large clubhouses is going to, they're probably going to lose the population of people who are currently attending a lot of the clubhouses because the only way that people like me who are dealing with serious mental illnesses, especially anxiety disorders, is working with a small number of people. if it was, if they went to let's say the minimum requirement of 90 people a day, that's too many people for me. Someone like me, a crowd is five people. So I wouldn't want to jeopardize my own mental health recovery by being overwhelmed with a large number of people. And I think that people like me might fall through the cracks.

Caroline, what are you hearing from other clubhouse members and operators? I think there's a lot of mixed feelings. A lot of clubhouse members did protest the mayor's plan. You know, some said that they didn't want to lose these long-term relationships they've cultivated. And I think some people were also indignant that, you know, for a model that really, like, values, you know, agency and people being a part of creating these spaces that then the city was saying, like, no, we're going to shut some of them down and only have them, you know, certain types of clubhouses. and other people have also said they suffer from anxiety and prefer a smaller setting. But some people are trying to adopt and take advantage of new opportunities as well. I spoke to one member of a clubhouse that's closing who is now seeking to become a staffer at Venture House,

a clubhouse that's expanding to new locations. And some new organizations will also be adopting the clubhouse model for the first time, including Phoenix House, for example, the addiction treatment provider. But even operators of clubhouses that are expanding, say they understand that it's not a simple thing for people to just abandon their existing communities. I've been speaking with WNIC's Caroline Lewis and Lisa Farmer, a member of lifelings. Caroline, Lisa, thanks so much for informing us of this. Thanks, Michael. Thank you.

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