“I work very freely, thinking about what would be healing for people to see and feel,” says our cover artist Emily Manwaring, 26. “I hope my work brings warmth—the feelings I feel when I’m doing my work.”The vibrant colors that characterize Emily’s paintings stem directly from the color palette of the Black diaspora, she says, particularly of Haiti and Trinidad where her parents were born. “The beach, the sand. You feel the wind swaying on you when you look.”
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Henry Street Settlement
Annual Report 2025
Our Neighborhood: #1 in Income Disparity
Of 59 neighborhoods in New York City, Henry Street’s community is #1 in income disparity. This is reflected in the wide income differences among three census tracts—two of them merely a half-mile apart and all of them under a mile from Henry Street service sites. For low-income people, rents are untenable, affordable stores have closed, and a sense of community has been diminished.
Our Neighborhood Impact in 2025
For over 133 years, Henry Street Settlement has been deeply rooted in this community, operating nearly 60 programs that serve 50,000 neighbors annually. Here are some highlights of our profound, and lifechanging impact on our neighbors in 2025:
Educational Supports
Provided
4,108
youth with academic, arts, and recreational services through afterschool, camp, community schools, and other programs
95%
college retention rate of 112 first-years, sophomores, and juniors in our Expanded Horizons college access and success program
70%+
arts education students who attended Abrons Arts Center for free or at discounted tuition
Nutritional Support
Served
823,068
nutritious meals to older adults and children through Meals on Wheels, Older Adult Center, and afterschool programs
Economic Supports
Placed
522
jobseekers into employment, with an average wage of $23/hour—nearly 150% of NYC’s minimum wage
Distributed
$240K+
in emergency aid to community members, including new migrants/asylum seekers
Connected
5,015
low-income households to benefits or legal support
2025: We danced. We deepened connections. We opened doors.
As we go to press, our community on the Lower East Side is experiencing a degree of precarity that many of us hoped could have been averted. For our neighbors, national policies hit local as immigration enforcement and looming cuts to benefits like SNAP (food stamps) and Medicaid pose visceral threats. For the third year in a row, poverty in our city has risen, and rents continue to increase, while at the same time 55% of people in New York City make less than $25 per hour. It’s hard not to feel unstable when our community members don’t know how they will put food on the table.
Henry Street is not waiting to act. In times like these, it’s our responsibility to double down on our core work. In 2025, our team helped our neighbors understand and prepare for SNAP cuts, avoid eviction, graduate from high school and college, achieve mental stability, find living-wage-paying jobs, and express themselves through visual and performing arts.
Part of Henry Street’s uniqueness is that, while we have grown over the past 20 years, we’ve remained—intentionally, strategically, and exclusively—on the Lower East Side. Our investment in this community is deep; and with this focus comes immense opportunity to serve individuals and families intensively over time.
Several of the stories in this report underscore these long-term effects, like that of Antoine Hunter, who, 20 years after making a transformative connection with a Henry Street mentor, is a thriving soon-to-be nurse practitioner. Still other stories illustrate the immense breadth and power of our programs in helping participants move into more positive phases in life, whether breaking isolation, overcoming addiction, or finding a job after a long, unwanted disruption.
Henry Street’s resiliency is directly tied to your consistent support. In the face of alarming headlines around us, our axiom—“Listen. Reflect. Act”—isn’t clickbait. It’s our strategy on the ground, ensuring we are here now and in the future to keep our doors open for long-term impact. Thanks to you, Henry Street delivers hope every day, and we are not stopping now.
David Garza President & CEO
Catherine Curley Lee Co-Chair
Ed Pallesen Co-Chair
2025
Responding to Urgent Community Needs
The sensory room at Boys & Girls Republic allows educators to meet a diverse range of children's developmental needs.
Henry Street Opens Two Indoor Play Space-Sensory Rooms
In May 2025 and February 2026, Henry Street opened two indoor play space/sensory rooms, in our Early Childhood Education program at 301 Henry Street and at our Boys & Girls Republic (BGR) afterschool program at 888 East Sixth Street. Indoor play spaces support children’s overall health and self-regulation, and a sensory room goes further to support children’s neurological development, allowing educators to meet diverse sensory needs. The first room was funded and installed by the CD&R Foundation with additional support from Macy’s. The room at BGR was designed and built by Cobblestone, an organization whose program facilitators also work with individual children to foster inclusive programming.
Expanded Horizons Expands to Non-Traditional Students
In 2025, Expanded Horizons, Henry Street’s college access and success program, opened its doors to a small cohort of new students who had not followed a traditional college trajectory. One such student was Rida, an immigrant from Pakistan who did not go to college immediately after high school. A former participant in the Settlement's Youth Opportunity Hub, she reached out to Henry Street because she was facing serious obstacles to remaining enrolled in Boston University. Expanded Horizons helped her reapply for her scholarship, find housing when she lost her residence, and finance Halal meals, which she could not find affordably on campus.
Rida, one of the first non-traditional students to join Expanded Horizons, graduated from Boston University.
Henry Street Launches SNAP response
The government shutdown of October and November 2025 left many SNAP (food stamp) recipients uncertain of how they would feed their families in the event of disruptions. Henry Street assessed community needs, designated point people to identify community members who were particularly vulnerable to a nutritional emergency, and began a fundraising campaign. With generously donated funds, the Settlement purchased food cards from local grocery stores—which also stood to suffer during the shutdown, provided food to pantries and individuals, and trained SNAP liaisons throughout our programs to provide case management and benefits navigation. Although the immediate crisis was averted, with most people’s benefits only briefly delayed, Henry Street remains vigilant as the coming year brings additional changes to the SNAP program, which will acutely affect our community.
GrowNYC and local elected officials held a press conference at Henry Street in August 2025 to call attention to cuts to federal food assistance programs; the two organizations then distributed fresh fruits and vegetables to the community.
New York Public Library Acquires Oral History Project
On March 11, 2025, The New York Public Library acquired 25 oral histories that Henry Street recorded in the early days of the pandemic. The set of interviews, called Hope & Resilience on the COVID Frontlines was launched by Henry Street’s public historian, Katie Vogel, to record the sudden shift as Henry Street team members found themselves in new roles as pandemic frontline workers, responding to the community’s urgent needs. The oral histories are particularly significant because they took place during the crisis period, rather than after it, capturing the mood of fear, uncertainty, and chaos across the city as the pandemic unfolded.
An Exciting Partnership Begins with Independent
Henry Street announced in October 2025 a new partnership with Independent, a mission-driven arts organization that serves collectors, galleries, artists, arts writers, and institutions internationally. The Settlement will host a gala celebration at the opening night of Independent’s contemporary art show, taking place at Pier 36, on the East River, on May 14, 2026. Click here for tickets.
Maura Cuffie-Peterson speaks at the 2025 Lillian Wald Symposium.
Lillian Wald Symposium Asks, “Can Artists Survive in New York City?”
The 10th annual Lillian Wald Symposium, held April 9, 2025, addressed whether New York City can remain a magnet and incubator for creativity across the visual and performing arts at a time when affordable live-work space and access to resources continue to shrink. Moderated by Valentina Di Liscia, news editor of the arts publication Hyperallergic, the event featured Maura Cuffie-Peterson, director, Creatives Rebuild New York; Anne del Castillo, senior policy advisor, creative sector strategy, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; Ashley Ferro-Murray, arts program director, Doris Duke Foundation; artist Nile Harris, Abrons AIRspace artist in residence, 2022-23, who also performed; and Sharon Zukin, sociologist and writer on gentrification.
Home-Grown Training Program Builds Management Skills, Confidence
With more than 120 managers across the Settlement, including many who have been promoted from within the organization, Henry Street in spring 2023 rolled out an in-house management-training program to strengthen our leadership culture from the inside out. The Learn@Henry Street team developed two training series--Foundations of Management and Manager as Coach—to raise the bar with respect to management skills, confidence, and ability to handle challenges. More than 126 managers have completed one or both programs, with several advancing into elevated roles in the organization.
Henry Street celebrated their graduation from the Foundations of Management training course.
Public Historian Katie Vogel interviews Kathryn Lloyd about 200 years of immigration to the Lower East Side. Their conversation took place against the backdrop of the Abrons Arts Center exhibition Lower East Side Yearbook: A Living Archive by Destiny Mata.
Henry Streeters Come to the Table
For the second year, in fall 2025, Henry Street held a series of lunch-and-learn talks, called Come to the Table, to strengthen our team’s connection to our community and its history. These events—also open to the public—carry forward our founder Lillian Wald’s commitment to bringing people “to the table,” to grapple together with pressing issues affecting Henry Street’s neighbors.
The topics included:
Abolition and Social Work
A Short History of SNAP and Medicaid.
200 Years of Lower East Side Immigration and Migration
Interview with Destiny Mata, photographer, Lower East Side Yearbook: A Living Archive
A Big Year for Abrons Arts Center
Fall Festival and Naming Ceremony Kick off Abrons 50th Anniversary
On October 25, 2025, Abrons Arts Center hosted a joyful fall festival, beginning with the official naming of the Miriam and Harold Steinberg Plaza, following a two-year renovation. The event featured a lively lineup of hands-on art activities inspired by the creativity of Halloween on the Lower East Side. The amphitheater was named for the parents of long-time Henry Street board member Michael Steinberg—a committed supporter of access to the arts whose transformative gift in their honor enabled the Abrons renovation. The renovation was prompted by a need to make upgrades to serve community members with a range of mobility needs; yet, in the process it enabled a transformation of the building itself, which has brought a greater sense of visibility and accessibility from the street.
Abrons student performances were a highlight of the ribbon-cutting on the Miriam and Harold Steinberg Plaza. Photo: A. Federman
Abrons Creates New Mission Statement
In 2025—Abrons’s 50th anniversary year—the arts center developed new mission, vision, and values statements that define what are our arts center is today and that will guide its actions for years to come.
Abrons Arts Center Mission
Abrons Arts Center builds a community where artists, learners, and audiences explore creative possibilities. Rooted in the immigrant and working-class history of our Lower East Side neighborhood, we offer free and affordable exhibitions, performances, classes, residencies, and space access.
LES Yearbook Features Local Residents’ Memories
From October 17, 2025, to January 4, 2026, Abrons featured Lower East Side Yearbook: A Living Archive, a visual art exhibition created by photographer Destiny Mata about Lower East Side public housing residents and the importance of community memory. The show brought together Mata’s photographs with images from the personal archives of local residents. The exhibition was curated by Ali Rosa-Salas, vice president of visual and performing arts at Abrons Arts Center, with exhibition design by Anzia Anderson.
Rosa Rodriguez poses in front of “Welfare Queen No. 1” (2025), Destiny Mata’s portrait of her, in which she is wearing a cape printed with food stamp coupon books—a commentary on turning the shame of public assistance into pride.
Lamar Francis won the grand prize at Live! on Grand.
Live! on Grand Talent Show Debuts
On December 13, 2025, local performer Lamar Francis won the grand prize at the first annual “Live! on Grand” talent show at Abrons Arts Center. Lamar was chosen by the audience--based on the volume of cheers and paddles raised—for his stunning rendition of “I’m Here” from The Color Purple. Lamar comes from a Henry Street family. His grandmother, Justine, is a regular at the Older Adult Center. Sixty people auditioned for the chance to be among 10 semifinalists—singers, dancers, instrumentalists, jugglers, and comedians. That number was then pared to 5 finalists who competed for a $1,000 grand prize.
Every dollar you give opens doors for the people Henry Street serves.
I know you can actually change a kid’s life if you’re there at the right time, because it happened to me.
Education Services
Antoine Hunter: Embracing a Lifechanging Program
Twenty years ago, as a 15-year-old who had fallen behind in high school, Antoine Hunter was a typical participant in New Beginnings at Henry Street. Raised by his grandmother because his mom struggled with addiction, Antoine lacked male role models, which led to gang involvement and subsequent school suspensions. New Beginnings brought together the Department of Education and nonprofits to re-engage students like Antoine in high school.
Having lost two friends to gun violence, he knew that school was the key to saving his own life. At New Beginnings, Henry Street provided counseling and peer support, preparing Antoine to move into a school from which he could graduate. Most notably, it made school fun. There, he met Henry Street’s Matthew Phifer and Bonnie Masey, who, he says, created an environment that he cared about and that made him want more for himself. They remained role models, setting him on path to seeking mentorship at crucial points in his life.
Antoine graduated on time and worked at Harlem Children’s Zone school before enrolling in Hostos Community College, where he set his sights on psychiatric nursing, with the aim of addressing young men’s mental health challenges. When an academic advisor told him about a Kaplan Educational Foundation program that could help him move toward a four-year degree, he applied.
Kaplan encouraged Antoine to apply to universities across the nation—in spite of his need to support his wife and three children. When Yale University in 2019 invited Antoine to apply to its program for people who had been out of high school for several years, he did so reluctantly.
Antoine was accepted to Yale with a full scholarship. His journey, however, was not easy. His first year, taken remotely due to the pandemic, allowed him to work a night shift at Bellevue Hospital. But when in-person class resumed, he stayed at the job, commuting from New Haven. Antoine did homework and slept on the train; he was often exhausted.
Upon graduation, he was accepted into the nursing master's degree program at Yale. Now a registered nurse, he will graduate with his psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner certificate in two years.
If it hadn’t been for Henry Street, Antoine says, his life might have taken a different course. With the support he received, he’ll be able to care for people of all ages, but especially adolescents. He says, “I know you can actually change a kid’s life if you’re there at the right time, because it happened to me.”
I always praise Allah ... for bringing me to Henry Street. I can’t imagine what would have happened.
Transitional & Supportive Housing
Fatou Njie: Finding Safety at Helen’s House
Fatou Njie married at age 22 to a man who had been approved by her father, a well-known imam in Gambia. “But it was only a month we were at peace,” she says. At the first sign of violence, Fatou’s parents said that she and her husband just needed to mature. But after her son was born, his insults increased. When Fatou was eight months pregnant with her second child, her husband beat her so badly that a doctor had to intervene to save her and her baby’s lives.
488
individuals served by Transitional & Supportive Housing in FY 2025
A decade later, Fatou found a partner she loved and was expecting her third child. But, her partner was Christian, which her father could not accept; he threatened to kill the baby or himself, she says. Fatou also feared that her daughter would be subjected to female “circumcision” when Nyima turned one. Fortunately, she had saved enough money to escape to the United States with her infant. When Fatou arrived at JFK airport, she called one of the only people she knew of in New York, a taxi driver. She and her daughter stayed in his living room for three days before he took her to the city’s office for homeless families. They brought her to Helen’s House at Henry Street in August 2024.
Helen’s House provided Fatou with comfort and safety and connected her to The Parent Center for workshops and counseling to process the trauma she had survived. The team also arranged legal counsel; she is eligible for asylum due to the gender-based violence she experienced and threats to her daughter.
Despite the cultural dislocation she feels, Fatou says “I always praise Allah and say thank God for bringing me to Henry Street. I can’t imagine what would have happened.”
In 2025, with Henry Street’s help, Fatou enrolled in a certified nurse assistant training program and has passed her initial exams. Fatou and her toddler, Nyima, moved out of Helen's House and into permanent housing in November 2025. They are still connected to Henry Street through the Aftercare Program, which provides an additional two years of case management support after shelter.
“For Nyima, the most important thing for me is her future, her safety. Here she is safe, she can have a good future,” Fatou says.
*The names in this story have been changed.
I learned how to process my thoughts. How to use my emotions.
Health & Wellness
Ramon Silva Makes Connections
A Brooklyn native, Ramon Silva never had a fair shot. Everything about school was very hard, and he didn’t have a clear sense of what college was, let alone someone encouraging him to go. When he was 16, an older acquaintance introduced him to drinking and drugs.
Once addicted, Ramon cycled in and out of work because he never “felt normal,” he explains. “I had to do drugs to feel right, and it ruined my life.” Ramon didn’t have words for the severe anxiety and depression he had experienced from an early age—a feeling he tried to alleviate with substances. After a fight that involved drugs, he wound up in prison—where he still had access to crack cocaine and heroin—for more than three years. After his release, he struggled to secure stable housing, often sleeping in shelters or outside.
Seeing a friend begin to recover through a residential drug-treatment program Ramon decided to try it, and over a two-year period he made enormous progress. He came to Henry Street for ongoing therapy to help manage anxiety and depression.
“I met SJ [his therapist], and that was the turning point to my life,” Ramon says. “I learned how to process my thoughts. How to use my emotions, label the things I was going through.... SJ is my...” and then, silently, he clasps his hands at his heart.
15,294
mental health visits provided at the Community Consultation Center
Ramon participates in Henry Street’s CONNECT program, which was developed during the pandemic to address the widespread need for community-based mental health services. He attends many of CONNECT’s nearly 20 support groups—including pottery (where he made a coffee cup), the Men’s Group, acupuncture and more. Ramon says he didn’t realize there was a way to live without drugs. “It’s amazing; I wake up in the morning with my money in my pocket, no headache, and enjoy my day. This is what is going to allow me to have a better life.”
ACCESS-VR/Employment Services
Jeremy Singleton: Resiliency in Action
Jeremy Singleton, 38, came to Henry Street in August 2023 for help reentering the workforce after an on-the-job injury derailed his career. Jeremy had grown up in East New York, an area that has long faced neglect, raised by a single mother after his dad died when he was only two. He received little career guidance in his high school, from which only about a quarter of students graduated. “There were a lot of pressures to do things the negative way, but I made a conscious effort to do things the right way,” he says. “I just kept hanging on to a belief that I could beat the odds.”
By his late 20s, Jeremy had settled into a job with a major delivery company, where he often did heavy lifting without a break. “Finally,” he says, “it all caught up to me.” In May 2019, he injured his back while lifting a heavy box at the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
At first, Jeremy kept working. But within a week, the pain was overwhelming. Unable to work, he sunk into a depression; he was out of work for about six years.
After a good deal of physical therapy, Jeremy came to Henry Street’s ACCES-VR program—a work-readiness program for people with disabilities. There, he received individualized computer training and career counseling. When he was ready for work, Program Director Piercelia Jackson connected Jeremy with the Willdan Clean Energy Academy--an organization that partners with ConEd and small minority-owned businesses to train workers for the clean energy sector. After completing a project-management internship at Willdan, the academy hired Jeremy as a project coordinator. Now, he’s come full circle, organizing interns’ workflow, managing relations with partners, and even doing a bit of training himself.
876
industry certifications earned by 351 workforce participants
Says Piercelia, “It can be a real process going back to work. Jeremy exposed himself to challenges and fought for what he really wanted to do.”
Here, you get to meet other older people in the same situation. It helps with the loneliness.
Older Adult Services
Sonia Mendez: Finding Community After a Life of Helping Others
In 1969, right out of high school, Sonia Mendez took the bus to Montgomery, Alabama, to work on the historic voter registration campaign. “You saw on the news every night that people were getting killed, firehosed,” she says, “because people of color couldn’t vote.” Along the way, she met civil rights leaders Julian Bond and Hazel Dukes. The Civil Rights Movement shaped her views and her career.
1,206
participants nurtured by the Older Adult Center
Born in the Bronx, Sonia spent decades working as a case manager in shelters and supportive housing, and at the Human Resources Administration, helping people access benefits.
An arts and culture lover, Sonia visits museums all around the city. And she still makes time for civil rights work, helping people register to vote. But when Sonia, who is single and doesn’t have kids, retired last year, at 73, she saw a vast amount of time unfold before her eyes. A friend told her about Henry Street’s Older Adult Center, and though she lives an hour away in Harlem, she comes to the center every day.
“I like that people are very friendly and social,” she says, adding that she attends talks on nutrition, does tai chi, and has taken jewelry making. But, the most important thing, she says, is the companionship. “We talk and share. Like many older people, all my relatives have gone. I’ve seen a lot. Here, you get to meet other older people in the same situation. It helps with the loneliness, mentally and physically.”
Sonia also volunteers in Henry Street’s Senior Companion Program, providing company and support to two people who are less active and helping them get to appointments. “It’s good to give, because one day I may need it,” she says. “What is special about coming here: Every day is a day of learning. Physically, mentally, and spiritually, you have to keep active.”
The mentorship component has been the most valuable part of my residency, and it’s my great fortune that we were paired.
Megan Mi-Ai Lee
Abrons Arts Center AIRspace Residency
Mentorship is Latest Innovation in Van Lier Artist Residency Program
Twelve years apart in age, the conceptual artists Megan Mi-Ai Lee, 29, and Park McArthur, 41, are at different stages in their careers. But Megan, one of three artist-residents at Abrons Arts Center under age 30, and Park, in mid-career, are both benefiting from the latest evolution in a residency program that is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Under the leadership of Ali Rosa-Salas and funded by the New York Community Trust Van Lier Fellowship, the program formally integrates a mentorship component to build intergenerational bonds between current fellows and residency alumni.
27,705
Neighbors attended performances and exhibitions at Abrons
For Park, an Abrons artist resident in 2013-14, the experience was pivotal, and she wanted to share the knowledge she’s gained with the next generation. “It was the first time I had a real studio outside my apartment, at no cost, and also a huge expansion of the artistic communities I wanted to be a part of,” she says.
At the time, Park was preparing for one of her first solo exhibitions and, as someone who uses a wheelchair, she was thinking about the ways she gains access to art spaces. “I often start with writing an idea or question,” Park says, “not necessarily beginning with materials.” That question involved how she and others in the disability community have had to advocate individually and collectively for access to spaces.
While she built toward an exhibition, “getting feedback was as important as having the studio,” says Park, who has exhibited internationally, including at MoMA and in the Whitney Biennial.
Park McArthur, an Abrons visual arts resident earlier in her career, now serves as a mentor.
Megan, also an interdisciplinary, conceptual artist, uses her work to explore the ways fantasy diffuses through popular culture. “The mentorship component has been the most valuable part of my residency,” she says, “and it’s my great fortune that that we were paired. Working with Park...has helped me develop more of a language. She adds that they have also had great conversations about “the realities of living and working in this tumultuous field that can be financially and socially challenging.”
Every dollar you give opens doors for the people Henry Street serves.
Jacob Valpais learned glassblowing at Buck’s Rock.
"My favorite part about being at Buck’s Rock is all the things you get to do. I learned guitar, glass blowing, woodwork, and I even made a charcuterie board!" said Jacob Valpais, 14, a Henry Streeter who has spent the past three summers at this legendary arts camp in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains of Connecticut. Jacob’s excitement and pride capture why this program means so much to Henry Street families.
What stays with campers is the experience of being trusted.
Buck’s Rock is an overnight camp that has been nurturing creativity, independence, and community for more than 80 years. With over 30 studios devoted to visual arts, music, theater, and dance, campers have the space to explore, experiment, and take creative risks. Through a partnership with Henry Street, the camp has welcomed 32 Settlement participants, at no cost, over the past three summers.
The imperative for city kids to experience nature was a core principle of Henry Street founder Lillian Wald, for whom “country work” held as much importance as nursing, social work, and political advocacy. Since becoming a nonprofit in 2021, Buck’s Rock has been committed to reducing financial barriers to camp, so that more New York City children can have a summer experience that is typically reserved for the wealthy.
“My favorite part about being at Buck’s Rock is all the things you get to do—you really couldn’t be bored,” Jacob says. “There’s endless stuff to keep yourself entertained.”
Melissa Lopez has seen the impact of camp on Jacob, her son. “I wanted him to experience something I never had,” she says, “to explore, meet new people, and discover what he truly enjoys. And I can honestly say he has grown so so much over the past summers.”
The camp invests an unusual degree of trust in its participants, says Camp Director Scott Kraiterman. “What stays with campers is the experience of being trusted. Buck’s Rockers are trusted to make choices, to take risks, and to know that who they are and what they bring is enough!”
“We hope to give kids an opportunity to be kids and connect to one another through a shared love of creating things,” says Antonia Steinberg, a former camper who acquired Buck’s Rock in 2021 and transitioned it into a nonprofit. She describes that one camper might follow their inspiration into the jewelry shop to make their mom a ring, while another could explore a process, like melting metal with fire to make a sculpture. Other campers develop new interests through their friends. “For all of them,” she says, “camp is a place to develop their curiosity and respect for one another through shared experience and creativity.”
Liam Smith, a Buck’s Rock camper since 2024, says the counselors make everything fun.
Volunteering
Henry Street and CD&R Foundation: A Distinctive Partnership
The team took a break from building the new sensory room at the Early Childhood Education program.
Five years ago, the private investment firm CD&R created a foundation to formalize and expand its long-standing commitment to stewardship and impact in its local communities. Through grants and partnerships with nonprofit organizations—referred to by the foundation as Talent Solution Partners—it aims to help individuals who have been historically underrepresented in various workforce sectors gain the technical skills, mentorship, and employer connections necessary to build lasting economic mobility.
The CD&R Foundation awarded its first grants in June 2022, including an investment in Henry Street to support its workforce development programs. This initial support later grew into a multiyear grant, underscoring the foundation’s dedication to helping partners plan for the future and adapt to evolving community needs.
The foundation has also expanded its employee volunteer efforts, engaging teams in projects that match their interests and availability. “Thanks to Deanna Sorge, whose guidance has helped strengthen the connection between CD&R employees and Henry Street, we are able to engage with the organization in a seamless and meaningful way,” noted Randy Moore, president of the foundation. For employees, Randy added, volunteering offers a mission-driven break from daily routines, strengthens team connections, and provides valuable support to an organization making a real difference within its community.
CD&R employees have contributed to a range of programs, including Early Childhood Education, Afterschool, the Older Adult Center, and more. In 2025, the foundation supported Henry Street’s Early Childhood Education program by funding and building a sensory room for children with diverse sensory needs. Early Childhood Education Program Director Liseida Melendez, an expert in sensory room design, envisioned and curated the space, and a CD&R volunteer team assembled the equipment to bring it to life.
“They were excited to support a hands-on project where teams could contribute in a tangible way and see the difference it would make,” Deanna remarked.
This volunteer experience allowed our team to connect, step outside the office, and learn more about one of our Talent Solution Partners.
CD&R volunteers helped stock the CONNECT mental health program food pantry and distributed food to participants in July 2025.
A Heartfelt Thank You to Our Volunteer Partners and In-Kind Donors
In 2025, a total of 1,480 volunteers contributed 3,700 volunteer hours of service to Henry Street, serving meals to older adults, conducting mock interviews with jobseekers, and working on crafts with students in our Afterschool programs.
Many thanks to the partners who donated much-needed food, hygiene kits, and other essentials for our community, especially during times of acute crisis. From cold weather staples to birthday packages for children, in-kind donations allowed us to provide Henry Street clients with resources that support their journeys with dignity and care.
KPMG sponsored a holiday party for Early Childhood Education participants in December 2025.
Ways To Give: Open Doors. Change Lives. Support Henry Street.
Every gift—no matter the size—helps us provide hope and opportunity to our neighbors on the Lower East Side and across New York City. You can give with confidence, knowing that 84 cents of every dollar goes to direct client service, and we have a four-star rating from Charity Navigator.
Become a Hero of Henry Street with a monthly gift!
Our recurring donors are true heroes. Their generosity and unwavering dedication provide the steady, reliable support we depend on every month. Thanks to our sustaining donors, we can serve our community with confidence all year long. Simply scan the QR code below to set up your monthly gift and start making a lasting impact.
Honor a loved one by buying a brick in our historic firehouse—the Dale Jones Burch Neighborhood Center.
The Lillian Wald Legacy Circle celebrates our forward-looking donors who name Henry Street Settlement in their wills or estate plans.
Each generation of New Yorkers relies on the progress and generosity of those who came before them. Just as Lillian herself left a legacy for our community, Lillian Wald Legacy Circle members build Henry Street’s endowment, ensuring we’re here to open doors to opportunity for the generations that follow.
Your bequest, no matter the size, makes a lasting statement about your values and care for our Lower East Side neighbors.
For help exploring the best giving options for your personal, financial, and philanthropic goals, email plannedgiving@henrystreet.org.
Attend the Gala Preview at Independent!
Henry Street Settlement is thrilled to partner with Independent, the leading invitation-only art show in New York City for rising contemporary art, to launch a new fundraising gala on May 14, 2026, from 5 to 8 p.m., at the show’s opening. It will take place at the show’s new Lower East Side location, Pier 36, just steps from Henry Street Settlement.
Guests will enjoy a cocktail party and private viewing of more than 100 rising and established voices and visionaries, many of whom are celebrating their New York debuts. These solo and group presentations are commissioned by 76 leading galleries from around the world.
Hosted by an extraordinary group of local luminaries, the Gala Preview will raise vital funds to help the Settlement remain agile and creative to meet this moment of profound need.
Every ticket will help Henry Street’s neighbors find jobs, learn English, access food, go to college, attain needed mental health care, participate in arts programs at Abrons Arts Center, and find paths to success. Buy your ticket today at HenryStreet.org/galatickets or go to HenryStreet.org/GalaPreview to learn more and get involved.
Independent, New York, 2023, Spring Studios, photography by Alexa Hoyer. Courtesy of Independent.
Henry Street Settlement’s work would not be possible without thousands of individuals, foundations, and corporations, including those who have given for generations and those supporters who are new to the Henry Street family. We are deeply grateful for their generosity.
Henry Street operates more than 50 programs in the areas of Health & Wellness, Transitional & Supportive Housing, Older Adult Services, Education, Employment, Visual & Performing Arts, and Community Engagement & Advocacy.
