A program that has helped connect tens of thousands of New Yorkers to federal, state, and city benefits is under threat after it wasn’t earmarked for any funding in Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s latest budget proposal.
NYCBenefits launched in 2023 and works with three dozen providers across the city to help low-income residents through every step of the process of applying for benefits.
But the $9.75 million it needs annually to run wasn’t included in the mayor’s executive budget proposal released earlier this month – and providers say it would be “tragic” if it ended.
“It’s been such a gift to have this for the community, people have benefited so much,” Julia Jean-Francois, the executive director for Center for Family Life in Sunset Park, told The City Reporter.
They have counselors who provide support to applicants in multiple languages, walking them through what they are eligible for, whether any program could affect their citizenship, and opportunities they aren’t aware of, she said.
From last July through the end of March, NYCBenefits providers helped 28,000 New Yorkers apply for benefits, supporters say.
NYCBenefits also seems aligned with the mayor’s overall mission of helping New Yorkers, Jean-Francois said.
“The city has such wonderful goals, this is completely consistent with that,” she said.
Jean-Francois has worked in social services in the city since 1991, and said NYCBenefits is “nothing that I’ve ever encountered in all of my years running a social service agency.”
“It’s a level of expertise and professionalism that is just unmatched. And it would be such a terrible loss,” she said.
Nicholas Jacobelli, a spokesperson for the Department of Social Services, said NYCBenefits would be funded in the coming fiscal year despite not being included in the executive budget – but couldn’t confirm if it would be funded beyond that.
“While budget negotiations are still ongoing, providers and community members can rest assured that we are fully committed to ensuring funding for the program for FY27,” he said. “Per our typical budget process, we will assess these programs and all others as we plan for FY28 and beyond.”
Providers and other supporters are already on the offensive to save the program.
The heads of 50 organizations sent a letter this week to the mayor, First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan, budget director Sherif Soliman, and Deputy Mayor Helen Arteaga-Landaverde urging them to guarantee it will be funded in the upcoming adopted budget – which is still being negotiated with the City Council – and beyond.
“If NYCBenefits loses funding, tens of thousands of New Yorkers will lose targeted benefits assistance and over 400 nonprofit staff will be impacted,” the letter says.
NYCBenefits clients who received help applying or recertifying for SNAP benefits received more than $20 million in aid — which they noted goes right back into the city’s economy.
“Without NYCBenefits arriving during a crisis of affordability and compounded by punitive federal immigration policies, many in our community will not be able to access the critical support needed to keep their families stable and healthy,” Randy Ali, the Executive Director, Arab-American Family Support Center, said in a statement.
Nicholas Posada, the director of contracts, reporting, and data for The Fortune Society, said he was troubled to hear the program could end.
“My heart jumped because the contract would end at the end of next month, which is not a lot of time,” he said.
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