Published on May 5, 2026
Direct Cash Kept Us Housed
A one-time direct cash payment helped Ky’ree Taylor and his wife keep their housing, cover essentials, and build stability.
Ky'ree Taylor & Alia Rosa Taylor, recipients of one-time direct cash support through the Targeted Housing Assistance Program in New York, NY.
(Photo credit: Jordana Bermúdez)
By Ky’ree Taylor • May 5, 2026
I came to New York with a plan. I didn’t realize how fast it could fall apart.
My wife and I received a blessing in October 2024: $3,700 each in direct cash.
We heard about the program through The Door, our local drop-in center in Manhattan, around the time I had lost my job. We had just started to regain our footing after a season of homelessness — we had found housing, but we were starting from zero, and it didn’t take long to feel like we were slipping backward.
(Photo credit: Jordana Bermúdez)
We had no savings. Almost no clothing. No furniture. Just an empty room and an air mattress. Bills were piling up. And because my wife had lost key documents in a fire and her ID had expired, a lot of the assistance people assume you can access wasn’t available to us. We needed a bridge to keep what we had just fought to get.
With the cash, we kept the lights on, paid back what we owed, and bought the basics that make a home livable: a bed, household essentials, toiletries, clothes. We even had enough to travel and reconnect with family — something we hadn’t been able to do in a long time.
Not long after, I got a job at Zara. And with that stability, I found my way back to the reason I moved to New York in the first place — my music and poetry. My wife paints. We co-write songs and perform them at churches. We’ve even won an award for one of them.
And now we’re building on that foundation as we get ready to welcome our first child. As soon-to-be-parents who grew up with instability, it means everything to know our kid won’t have to ask where home is. Home is with us.
Ky’ree Taylor
Direct Cash Recipient
