Common Ground (NYC)

Common Ground (NYC)

Common Ground is a nonprofit social services organization in New York City whose goal is to create high-quality permanent and transitional housing for the homeless. Its philosophy holds that supportive housing costs substantially less than homeless shelters — and many times less than jail cells or hospital rooms, and that people with psychiatric and other problems can better manage them once they are permanently housed and provided with services. Since its foundation in 1990 by Rosanne Haggerty, the organization has created more than 5,000 units of housing for the homeless. "This is about creating a small town, rather than just a building," according to Haggerty. "It's about a real mixed society, working with many different people."

Haggerty's work was recognized in 2001 when she was selected as a MacArthur Fellow. The MacArthur Foundation praised her work in salvaging historic buildings, renovating them through creative financing from public and private sources and partnering with other social service organizations to give homeless and low-income residents more than just a roof over their heads. In selecting Haggerty for its prestigious award, the Foundation noted: "The success of these projects has called into question long-standing assumptions about low-income housing, such as the mix of populations that can live together harmoniously and the maximum efficient scale of such facilities."