Every person, child, and family in Schenectady deserves safe shelter, affordable housing, and the opportunity to build a stable future. As a candidate for Mayor of Schenectady in 2027, Orlondo Otis Hundley II is proposing a 15-point plan to combat homelessness, expand affordable housing, and improve emergency shelters for women and families.
The plan focuses on preventing evictions, rehabilitating vacant properties, keeping families together, expanding year-round shelter services, protecting survivors of domestic violence, and connecting unhoused residents with employment, childcare, healthcare, and permanent housing opportunities.
Through stronger partnerships with Schenectady County, local nonprofits, and housing providers, Orlondo's vision aims to create a city where homelessness is addressed with compassion, accountability, and lasting solutions.
Emergency shelter and immediate protection
1. Expand Emergency Shelter Capacity. Partner with nonprofit organizations, Schenectady County, and housing providers to increase available shelter beds, especially for women, children, and families experiencing homelessness.
2. Establish Women-Centered Safe Shelters. Support dedicated shelter spaces for women, including survivors of domestic violence, with secure entrances, private sleeping accommodations, trauma-informed staff, and connections to legal and healthcare services.
3. Keep Families Together. Prioritize family shelter accommodations that allow parents and children to remain together, avoiding unnecessary separation based on age, gender, or household composition.
4. Create 24-Hour Warming and Cooling Centers. Expand access to year-round emergency facilities with bathrooms, showers, laundry services, drinking water, charging stations, and connections to social services, particularly during extreme weather.
5. Protect Families With Pets and Service Animals. Develop pet-inclusive shelter options and partnerships with animal welfare organizations so families are not forced to abandon companion animals to access emergency housing.
Permanent housing and affordability
6. Convert Vacant Properties Into Affordable Housing. Work with the land bank, housing nonprofits, and qualified developers to rehabilitate vacant properties into safe, affordable homes, with an emphasis on family-sized units.
7. Expand Transitional and Supportive Housing. Support housing programs that combine stable accommodations with voluntary case management, employment assistance, childcare connections, and mental healthcare.
8. Establish a Homelessness Prevention Fund. Pursue public, nonprofit, and philanthropic funding for emergency rental assistance, utility arrears, security deposits, and short-term interventions that help households avoid eviction.
9. Increase Affordable Housing for Single households and Families. Encourage the development of two-, three-, and four-bedroom homes, along with affordable units suitable for multigenerational households and families with children.
10. Strengthen Tenant Protections and Housing Stability. Expand access to eviction prevention services, housing counseling, tenant education, and legal assistance while reviewing local options for preventing displacement and excessive rent increases. Support Good Cause Evection.
Support services, family stability, and accountability
11. Provide Childcare and School Transportation Support. Coordinate with schools, childcare providers, and transportation agencies to help children maintain educational stability while families transition into permanent housing.
12. Expand Employment and Financial Independence Programs. Connect shelter residents with paid job training, apprenticeships, employment opportunities, financial literacy programs, and assistance obtaining identification and essential documents.
13. Improve Maternal Healthcare, Sexual Health, and Mental Health Services. Partner with healthcare providers to expand access to prenatal care, postpartum support, mental health counseling, addiction treatment, trauma-informed services, sexually transmitted infection (STI/STD) testing and treatment, reproductive healthcare, and affordable prescription medications. Ensure unhoused women and families can access essential healthcare services without discrimination or unnecessary treatment requirements as a condition of receiving emergency shelter.
14. Create a Centralized Housing Assistance Office. Establish a city-level Office of Enrollment to help residents navigate shelter placements, rental assistance, housing applications, and existing county programs through a coordinated referral system.
15. Establish Public Accountability for Homelessness Services. Publish regular reports on shelter capacity, housing placements, average lengths of stay, and returns to homelessness while protecting the privacy of residents and survivors of domestic violence.