CHDC in the News CHDC COVID-19 Guidance

CHDC STATEMENT

CHDC has always pulled together and been a neighborhood anchor in times of crisis.

CHDC was founded in 1973 when the neighborhood had been abandoned by property owners, but not by its long-term residents. CHDC worked with thousands of tenants who fought to keep their buildings open and maintain their long-term homes. 

In the 1980s, we worked to renovate buildings for affordable housing as private owners, seeking to gentrify the neighborhood, harassed and burnt out tenants. From the mid-1990s, it responded and continued to respond to the homeless crisis by renovating and building supportive housing for the lowest income and most at-risk New Yorkers. 

In the early 2000s, the organization mobilized against the development of the Westside stadium and the Hudson Yards Rezoning in collaboration with the Hell’s Kitchen Hudson Yards Alliance and Manhattan Community Board 4, we protected thousands of affordable apartments from demolition. In 2011, we weathered September 11th and in 2012, Hurricane Sandy.

And we are still here today providing assistance and services to the Middle West Side of Manhattan. Our affordable housing and services are essential to the neighborhood’s wellbeing.

COVID-19 is a major public health crisis. The situation has become somewhat better, but we are not out of the woods yet. We continue to work together day by day to figure it out, to protect ourselves, our families, our tenants and the Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen and Chelsea communities as best as we can. Our motto of “Old Bricks – Faith in People – Preserving Community” makes sense now more than ever.

We wish you and your families only the best of health in this difficult and trying time.

CHDC PROTOCOLS

On March 18th, 2020, the Mayor designated the 40,000-member Health and Human Services workforce serving in city-contracted programs as essential workers. CHDC staff are part of that essential workforce. The safety and well-being of our employees and tenants is our main priority. In order to minimize the spread of COVID-19, we’ve developed a multitude of protocols for both tenants and staff based on guidelines and recommendations from the Federal Center for Disease Control (CDC), NYC Department of Health, the Governor’s Office and other state and city agencies.

Tenants and staff receive regularly updated communication regarding these protocols and additional ones. For any questions regarding specific protocols, contact CHDC at (212) 967-1644.

Per the NYC Department of Health on June 15, 2020, the following precautions can help our community stay healthy:

We encourage all tenants and staff with any symptoms of illness to self-quarantine. For more information regarding self-quarantine, visit https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/health/health-topics/coronavirus.page.

CHDC FOOD PROGRAM

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, weekly community and tenant activities at the heart of our work are not currently possible due to the COVID-19 crisis. However, CHDC is committed to providing meals and snacks occasionally to all tenants who need them. Here are a few ways CHDC is helping:

Prepared Meals 

To further prevent the spread of COVID-19 during food preparation and delivery and keep tenants safe, CHDC has put in place the following safety measures:  

For more information, tenants can call CHDC at 212-279-4079.

COMMUNITY RESOURCES

New York City government is providing free meals to New Yorkers on a daily basis. Any New Yorker who needs this service can collect their free meals at more than 400 Meal Hubs across the city. 

 

Hunger Free NYC  - A project of Hunter College Food Policy Center has produced Neighborhood Guides to Food & Assistance containing detailed information on free food access – such as SNAP, WIC, school meals, senior meals, soup kitchens, food pantries and farmer’s markets that accept SNAP as payment.

There are also resources that can help connect community members with medical supplies, childcare, personal assistance, WIFI, and transportation to care providers.

Mutual Aid NYC  - Mutual Aid NYC is a network of groups organizing to provide aid and support to New Yorkers in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you are a service worker who is out of work and need money to pay bills, email serviceworkerscoalition@gmail.com and let them know what you need. If you would also like to help your neighbors during this time, you can specify that in your email. 

Metro PCS, T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T are all lifting their unlimited data caps for cellphone subscribers for at least 60 days to obtain Wi-Fi via smartphones. Contact your cellphone provider for more information. 

Other resources are also available from Manhattan Community Board 4 at https://www1.nyc.gov/html/mancb4/html/home/home.shtml including:

See the Manhattan Borough President Office Covid-19 Weekly Newsletter for more updates and resources: https://www.manhattanbp.nyc.gov/category/covid-newsletters/