Habayit means "the home"
Because that is what a family needs when everything else has become a hospital.
It started with a simple question
Where is this family supposed to sleep tonight?
People come to New York from all over the world for treatment they cannot get at home — surgery, chemotherapy, transplants, specialist care for a child. They arrive for a consultation and are told to stay for six weeks. They arrive for six weeks and stay for six months.
Hotels near the hospitals cost more per night than most families earn in a day. Short-term rentals want a lease, a deposit and a credit history. And none of it is set up for someone who keeps kosher, who is immunosuppressed, who needs a quiet place to recover between treatments.
So we started Habayit — home away from home — to provide short-term furnished apartments for people coming into New York for medical treatments and surgeries. We began with a single apartment. Today we have seventeen, and more on the way.
Our guests never pay. Not for the apartment, not for the utilities, not for the food in the fridge when they arrive.
Dignity is part of the treatment
A home, not a handout
Our apartments are furnished and cared for the way you would want your own family to be received. Nobody should feel like a charity case while fighting for their life.
No cost, no conditions
We do not means-test, we do not charge, and we do not ask families in crisis to prove they deserve help.
Family, during and after
Guests become part of our community. Many stay in touch for years, and some come back to volunteer for the families who follow them.
The apartment is only the beginning
A volunteer stocks the fridge before you land. Another cooks dinner on the night of your surgery. Someone donates the Uber to your 6am appointment. Someone visits when your family had to fly home and you are here alone.
There is a backyard with a trampoline, because children going through treatment — and the siblings who came along — still need to be children.
None of this is staffed. All of it is people who decided this mattered.
Join our volunteersWhere things stand
About Habayit
Does it really cost nothing?
Correct. There is no rent, no deposit, no cleaning fee and no charge for utilities. Habayit is funded entirely by donors, sponsors and volunteers.
Who is eligible to stay?
Patients travelling to New York for medical treatment or surgery, along with the family members accompanying them. Stays range from a few nights to several months depending on the course of treatment.
Are the apartments kosher?
Yes. Every kitchen is kosher and stocked before guests arrive. If you have specific requirements, note them on your application and we will do our best to accommodate.
How is Habayit funded?
Entirely through donations, monthly partners, sponsorship campaigns and in-kind gifts from local businesses who furnish and supply the apartments. There is no paid staff between your gift and a family.
How can I help?
Give once or monthly, volunteer your time, or sponsor as a business. Furniture, appliances and professional services are always needed too — just get in touch.