Tarek grew up in Lebanon, where uncertainty was part of everyday life. He was raised by a single mom who did everything in her power to shield her family from the volatility. Instability affected people both materially and psychologically, and events outside their control often determined their life choices. It’s hard to plan for your future when you’re worried about whether you can count on the basics.

That experience is part of why he started Kalshi: to give people a way to manage the risks of events outside their control in a world that is becoming more unpredictable, not less.

Tarek and his co-founder, Luana Lopes Lara, chose to build Kalshi in New York. For a financial exchange, it was a natural home, with so much of the industry’s history here, along with the people and institutions shaping its future. The city has helped build Kalshi, and their connection to it has deepened along the way.

Their first office was in SoHo, right next to the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe. Over the years, they watched the bookstore grow into a welcoming community space and beloved New York institution and learned that it funds vital services to uplift low-income New Yorkers.

More than 500,000 New Yorkers don’t have health insurance, and that number will grow over the next 18 months. These are the people who keep our city running: house cleaners and caregivers, construction workers, waitresses juggling intense hours or multiple part-time jobs, often without a safety net. Some of those people work multiple jobs or insane hours without any health insurance. Others need stable housing or support getting back into the game.

Founded to respond to the AIDS crisis in 1990, Housing Works has spent 36 years caring for anyone who walks through the door. Today, that work faces an unprecedented need. As we all face these systemic shortcomings, we need new partners who can help and who are willing to stand up to and help protect New York’s most vulnerable for years to come, not just for a moment in time.

For Housing Works, that partner is Kalshi.

That’s why we are announcing a $3 million, multi-year partnership, the largest gift Housing Works has received from a single donor in its history.

The cornerstone is the expansion of Housing Works’ flagship health center in East Harlem. It will allow the center to serve more patients, ensure continuity of care for New Yorkers most at risk of losing their coverage, and strengthen its ability to provide comprehensive, patient-centered services to everyone who comes in.

But healthcare alone isn’t enough. Getting care can help someone through an immediate crisis. A steady job gives them room to plan beyond it. So the partnership also expands Housing Works’ Ready For Work program, which trains people and helps them find jobs, creating a path from crisis care to economic stability. Beyond direct funding, we’ll use Housing Works’ familiar retail locations as community touchpoints, turning neighborhood storefronts into a public face for this work.

We chose a multi-year commitment deliberately. This work takes money, but it also takes time. Expanding a health center requires planning and staff. Training someone for a job means supporting them through the whole process. Nonprofits do their best work when they have funding they can count on.

That’s the New York we want to help build: a city where the success of one doesn’t come at the expense of another. It’s the kind of place where two people in a SoHo apartment can start a company and where relentless advocacy can ensure everyone gets a fair shot.

Being the financial capital of the world and taking care of your people are not mutually exclusive. New York can and will do both, and we intend to do our part.

King is CEO of Housing Works. Mansour is CEO of Kalshi.