Upper West Side Homeless Advocacy Group Wins Citywide Award

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — On Monday, the Coalition for the Homeless announced a recently formed group on the Upper West Side as the winner of its annual Compassionate Communities Award.

The award went to the Upper West Side Open Hearts Initiative, a group that is committed to supporting the temporary homeless residents at four hotels on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

"For those who have been reading the news lately, it might seem counterintuitive that the Coalition for the Homeless is recognizing a group from the Upper West Side," the Coalition for the Homeless wrote in its announcement of the award.

In the past two months, the Upper West Side neighborhood has received national coverage for its reaction to the community's new temporary homeless shelter population.

However, while a large part of this coverage has focused on a particularly vocal group of residents advocating to remove homeless residents from neighborhood hotels, the Coalition for the Homeless is honoring the Upper West Side Open Hearts Initiative for its work to welcome those homeless residents.

"The mighty group of volunteers from the Upper West Side Open Hearts Initiative have organized rallies, art events, donation drives, and press conferences since they launched the initiative in the middle of August, right as the anti-shelter sentiment was reaching a boiling point," Coalition for the Homeless wrote. "Their tremendous energy and organizing in support of people experiencing homelessness in the midst of a public health crisis — and in the face of vociferous hostility from some of their neighbors — is an example of compassion for all communities."

The Coalition for the Homeless has advocated and provided service for homeless people in New York for almost 40 years. The organization runs 11 frontline programs that help more than 3,500 people everyday experiencing homelessness, according to its website.

On Friday, the city announced that the homeless residents living in the Lucerne on the Upper West Side will be moved to a hotel in downtown Manhattan by Oct. 5. You can read more about the Upper West Side Open Hearts Initiative reaction to the announcement on Patch.