How Downtown Alliance Helps Lower Manhattan’s Unhoused Individuals

It’s our 30th anniversary, and we’re self-celebrating. Over the next few months, we’ll be rolling out 30 stories about 30 of our biggest accomplishments, including everything from our daily public safety and sanitation work, to our small business outreach, to how we helped the neighborhood navigate challenges and even tragedies. You’ll be able to find these stories on our website, as well as in our weekly newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. 

Since 2009, Trinity Church and BRC have worked in partnership with the Downtown Alliance to serve unhoused persons in Lower Manhattan and to supplement work of the city’s Department of Homeless Services. Trinity Church provides support by supplying one-half of the yearly funding for BRC to conduct outreach, advocacy and other services to individuals in need throughout the Downtown Alliance’s boundaries.

These services include stabilization beds, public and private shelters, drop-in centers and hospital care. The program has generated positive results — from July 2009 to January 2025, 1100 individuals have been placed into various shelters. These placements have taken homeless individuals from the streets and subways into needed services that have helped reclaim their lives and achieve their potential. 

In 2024 alone, ADNY’s public safety officers identified 1,400 individuals experiencing homelessness in need of essential services, resulting in 137 individuals being placed in transitional housing by the BRC Homeless Outreach team. This milestone represents a significant increase in engagement for the homeless outreach services provided by the Alliance. In addition to our day-to-day work with BRC, in 2024 we teamed up with the organization to run two book drives, with donations going to residents at various BRC housing locations.