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Resident Economic Empowerment & Sustainability (REES)

NYCHA’s Office of Resident Economic Empowerment & Sustainability (REES) measurably supports residents’ increased income and assets through programs, policies and partnerships in six key areas:

  • Job Opportunities
  • Job Skills Training
  • Adult Education
  • College Scholarships
  • Financial Literacy and Asset Building
  • Business Development

Our Approach

REES implements a place-based “Zone Model” that is focused on service coordination, strategic partnerships, leveraging localized external resources and services, and NYCHA resources to support residents in increasing their income and assets. To accomplish this, REES is taking a multi-pronged approach that includes:

  1. Connecting residents to high quality and relevant economic opportunity services;
  2. Supporting economic opportunity providers to better serve NYCHA residents by providing additional capacity and strategic support;
  3. Attracting new resources for NYCHA communities and replicating proven economic opportunity service models; and
  4. Generating jobs and other economic opportunities for NYCHA residents through leveraging NYCHA resources.

Find out more information about REES:

A New Experience for Partners

As one of the largest landlords in New York and the largest purveyor of public housing in the country, NYCHA is an economic engine and is uniquely positioned to support resident economic opportunity outcomes. NYCHA’s Zone Partners leverage our resources to implement a series of strategic projects that support resident outcomes.  When we refer to “resources,” we are referring to non-financial strengths and assets that NYCHA can bring to the broader community economic development ecosystem. These resources include: NYCHA having access to jobs with its vendors and other partners (supported through HUD’s Section 3 regulation); direct connection to NYCHA residents and communications means for reaching them; availability of physical space for high-quality programming; resident data to inform quality service provision and evaluation; and NYCHA’s policymaking capabilities. NYCHA is committed to being a better partner. In addition to accessing NYCHA’s resources, Zone Partners have a dedicated point of contact for engaging with REES and a system for ongoing communication and shared-learning.