Grantee Spotlight: Osborne Association

February 21, 2022

Rendering of the Osborne Association's Fulton Community Reentry Center in the Bronx. — Rendering of the Fulton Community Reentry Center, which will house four floors of transitional housing with 135 beds, classrooms for job and skill training, community spaces, dining room, counseling offices, and other support services.

The Osborne Association is a leading service provider, advocate, and housing developer that works to eradicate housing instability and homelessness for justice-involved and formerly incarcerated people in New York City. It works through multiple channels to address the issues facing those who have had contact with the justice system so that they have fewer barriers to accessing housing.

For more than 87 years, Osborne has worked with individuals, families, and communities to create opportunities for people affected by the criminal justice system to lead lives of responsibility and contribution. Serving more than 12,000 people a year, the organization’s programs span all points of justice involvement. Osborne amplifies its policy and advocacy work through coalition participation that focuses on housing justice and just reentry, as well as uplifting the voices of the communities served.

Members of the Osborne Association join the rally calling for the closure of Rikers Island on October 17, 2019.

To further its mission of supporting and creating holistic housing options for justice-involved individuals, Osborne convenes the Housing and Criminal Justice Policy Coalition, which creates guidelines that address the movement of residents from transitional housing to different forms of permanent housing and the need for coordinated supportive services to promote long-term stability for this community.

In 2020, Osborne convened a criminal justice and housing justice working group and finalized advocacy goals to champion the humanity of individuals impacted by the criminal justice system and their right to safe and secure housing. As part of the Fair Chance for Housing Campaign, Osborne submitted testimony to the New York City Council in response to NYCHA’s proposed rule change to their exclusion policy based on criminal history. Osborne also promotes public education through media that highlights public policy and personal impact stories about barriers to reentry and reunification. Most recently, Osborne is using its evaluation on the progress of its Fulton Community Reentry Center in the South Bronx to develop guidelines for housing programs dedicated to people reentering from prison or jail and congregate housing.