Barry Hers reflects on support for HASA programs in New York City

Well known for his generosity, having contributed heavily toward New York City’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program in recent years, property investor and real estate professional Barry Hers looks back on his support for HIV/AIDS Services Administration, or HASA, programs in NYC, beginning in the 1990s and continuing to the present day.

“First established in 1985, HASA exists to assist individuals living with AIDS or HIV-related illnesses, in order that they may live healthier and more independent lives,” reveals Hers, who owns numerous properties in Brooklyn and elsewhere throughout New York City, “myself being among the first landlords in NYC to embrace the initiative’s early housing programs during the 1990s.”

Since then, the organization has continuously served to help those in need with personalized service plans designed to target necessary benefits, as well as to provide support specific to an individual’s medical situation, and which will enhance their well-being. “Over the years, I’ve housed hundreds of tenants as part of both emergency and non-emergency HASA housing programs,” says Hers, whose properties include 60 Clarkson Avenue, Brooklyn, and a nearby address on Flatbush Avenue, among many others.

One of several of Hers’ properties in Brooklyn, 60 Clarkson Avenue—in the Flatbush area of the borough, close to the attractive residential neighborhood of Prospect Lefferts Gardens—was first acquired by the real estate professional in 1995. The property was promptly subject to a multi-million dollar renovation project before being entered into both various HASA programs and the city’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program. “My team and I transformed 60 Clarkson Avenue into a truly wonderful place to live in the bustling borough of Brooklyn,” adds Hers—whose offices are located on 52nd Street, in the southwestern part of the same NYC borough—of the completed work.

Furthermore, Barry Hers has brokered numerous deals on apartments for HASA programs over the course of the last three decades, while simultaneously convincing fellow landlords in New York City to join the initiative’s programs as demand for properties grew. “HASA clients,” he adds, “receive ongoing case management, and are assigned to their own caseworker at one of the organization’s numerous centers which can be found in all five of New York City’s boroughs.”

HASA solutions currently include assistance in helping to successfully apply for services such as Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, as well as emergency and non-emergency transitional housing, cash assistance, transportation assistance, home care, mental health and substance abuse screening and treatment referrals, and employment and vocational services.

Barry Hers remains one of a growing number of landlords in New York City who have generously supported HASA since its inception. “I’ve always harbored a desire to help those in need, so I’m immensely proud to have been able to lend a much-needed hand to HASA and the organization’s various projects and services during the last 25 years,” he adds, wrapping up.