Plans have been revived for the supportive housing conversion of 1400 Pelham Parkway South, an underutilized medical building on the campus of NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi in Morris Park, The Bronx. Developed by The Fortune Society, the structure will yield 83 fully affordable permanent housing units for formerly incarcerated New Yorkers with complex medical needs. On-site services will also be provided by The Fortune Society in coordination with medical care from Jacobi Hospital.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced his administration’s support of the Just Home conversion on January 19. The project was stalled last year when outgoing Mayor Eric Adams sought to relocate the initiative to Brooklyn, despite approvals from both the NYC Health + Hospitals Board and City Council.
Just Home is part of a broader effort to expand supportive housing for justice-involved individuals. The program will receive $1 million annually through the city’s Justice-Involved Supportive Housing (JISH) program, which has been shown to reduce recidivism and improve health outcomes. Residents will be referred by NYC Health + Hospitals/Correctional Health Services and must meet eligibility requirements, including clearance of any open criminal cases and no current risk of violence. Wraparound services will be provided by licensed clinical social workers and peer staff from Fortune Society.
Jacobi Hospital, via Google Maps.
In tandem with Just Home, the NYC Health Department will release an updated Request for Proposals later this week to fund up to 190 additional units of supportive housing for justice-involved individuals. Combined with Just Home, these efforts will create more than 350 new units across the city. The initiative also supports NYC Health + Hospitals’ Housing for Health program, which placed over 600 homeless patients in housing in 2025 and provided medical respite services to hundreds more.
Transit nearby Just Home includes the 2 and 5 trains at the Pelham Parkway and Morris Park stations.
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The hulking Jacobi Hospital was built in 1955 as a municipal hospital. It was built of that notorious glazed white brick popular at the time which spalled badly.
Hospital buildings can become obsolete quickly. Jacoby had a series of 6 bed wards rather than semiprivate rooms. It was not originally air conditioned. In 2005, a new hospital was built adjoining the original structure. As services shifted to the new facility, the old one became something of a white elephant. It is good that some use could be found for it.
The other hospital in the complex was built for TB patients and featured many balconies so they could breathe the good Bronx air. By the time it was finished, antibiotics had rendered the facility unnecessary. It was acquired by the neighboring medical school as a research facility. The other major building was intended as a nursing school with residences, classrooms, and even a swimming pool in the basement. The school eventually closed and this was used for offices.