Neighborhood News February 2022 |
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In the early 1980s, homelessness was on the rise in New York City. Women pushed shopping carts or carried bags loaded with their belongings by day. Men slept on church steps at night. These scenes are sadly familiar to us now, but in the early 1980s they were shocking and new.
The Upper East Side faith and community leaders who founded Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter saw these scenes and knew they needed to act. They believed that homelessness is the responsibility of the entire community.
In 1980 Rev. Hays Rockwell, then the Rector of St. James’ Church, and Bill Smyth, then a staff community worker and St. James’ parishioner, invited local churches, synagogues, and neighborhood organizations to attend weekly meetings to discuss how they could help these homeless New Yorkers. The original coalition included representatives from All Souls Unitarian Church; Christ Church, United Methodist; Church of the Epiphany; Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity; Jan Hus Presbyterian Church; Lenox Hill Neighborhood Association; Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church; St. Ignatius Loyola Church; Temple Emanu-El; Temple Israel; Temple Shaaray Tefila; and Yorkville Civic Council.
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NCS founding board members Dick Dunham and Anne Davidson cut the cake at NCS’s 25th anniversary celebration. |
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Their first step was to offer free meals, initially lunch and later adding dinner. Different churches and synagogues hosted the meals on various days of the week. Many of these meal programs continue to this day. Soon they opened a nightly women’s shelter, housed at Lenox Hill Neighborhood Association and staffed by volunteers from the various coalition partners. |
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In 1982, members of the coalition formed NCS’s first Board of Directors and incorporated as a nonprofit organization. The founding board included St. James’ parishioners Anne Davidson and Wolcott (“Dick”) Dunham, who remain active board members 40 years later.
“The initial vision for NCS was as a community service organization that would respond to the various needs of the neighborhood,” Anne Davidson, the first Board President, remembered. “It’s different today than we first envisioned. We started with each church and synagogue offering their own meal programs, but it was clear that people needed more than that. We evolved quickly when we realized the next step would be to buy a building and provide housing.”
When the NCS Residence opened a few years later in 1985, NCS was among the pioneers in supportive housing, which pairs affordable housing with comprehensive on-site supportive services. The NCS Residence continues to provide a home to 65 individuals who have a history of homelessness. Most live with mental illness, often accompanied by substance use.
Over the past 40 years, NCS has evolved with the changing needs of the community, offering meal programs; seasonal shelters; transitional housing; vocational and educational programming; Chance for Change, an outpatient substance-use treatment program; and Louis Nine House, supportive housing for young adults.
Today Anne and Dick are both proud of and excited by what NCS has accomplished in the 40 years since they helped launch the coalition.
“I was initially drawn to helping homeless New Yorkers as a commitment to my faith,” Dick explained. “That still plays a big role. And I am just so delighted at what NCS has done, and I am excited to see what NCS does next.”
While NCS’s future hasn’t yet been written, it will undoubtedly include some of the critical components that have been key to NCS’s success since the beginning: creating innovative solutions to complicated issues with dedicated support from our community.
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In honor of NCS’s 40th anniversary, we will be sharing stories like this one about our founders, volunteers, supporters, and staff who make our work possible, and the residents and clients at the center of our mission.
Check out the other stories we have posted here, and be sure to return throughout the year as we regularly update the series with new stories.
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When the pandemic started in early 2020 most New Yorkers, along with people across the world, took shelter in the safety of their homes, going out only when necessary. For some, those who are older or immunocompromised, staying home and staying safe were even more important.
NCS supporters Kathleen and Henry Chalfant really wanted to help but also recognized the need to stay safe.
The Chalfants were introduced to NCS almost 10 years ago by their friends and long-time NCS supporters, Hugh Fremantle and Susan Stevens who thought correctly that Kathleen and Henry would be moved by NCS’s work. They began making annual contributions and soon committed to monthly donations to support NCS’s clients. But when the pandemic started, they wanted to do more... and we had the perfect role for them!
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New York-Presbyterian Hospital was receiving hundreds of donated meals every day for the doctors, nurses, and other COVID heroes working on the frontlines of the pandemic. But many days were too many, and they asked NCS if we could accept the leftover, individually-packaged portions. But there was just one catch—someone would need to pick them up and deliver them to the Upper East Side where NCS employees would pass them on to our hungry residents. It was the perfect job for someone with a car who wanted to be helpful without interacting with others.
“We were too old to volunteer in most places in 2020 but read that NCS needed drivers to pick up donated meals and deliver them to the residence on 81st Street,” Kathleen shared. “We contacted the splendid Michael Hartwyk (Director of Human Resources & Volunteer Services) and in late April began making regular trips with the food. It was wonderful to feel we could help even in this small way and that our age wasn't a disqualification.”
Although the Chalfants had been loyal Circle of Neighbors members since 2016, making monthly donations, and spent much of 2020 pulling up outside the Residence to drop off the meals, it wasn’t until 2021 that they finally made it inside to see the NCS Residence.
“We volunteered to serve Thanksgiving Dinner at the Residence and so finally got to meet some of the staff and many of the residents in person. It was a perfect way to spend Thanksgiving and to marvel at the wonders of Monique Phillips (NCS Residence Program Director)!!!!!”
Thank you, Kathleen and Henry, for stepping up and driving over when NCS clients needed you most.
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Voting is still open for NCS to receive a donation from Target! The more votes NCS gets, the more money Target will donate to us!
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HOW TO VOTE:
- Go to www.target.com/circle and log into your Target account to see how many votes you have (every time you've made a purchase, you've earned a vote).
- Once you're on www.target.com/circle you will see a section called "Community Support"— that's where you go to vote for NCS. And you can give NCS all of your votes!
- For NCS to come up as a voting option you will need to set your "My store" location to a Manhattan store. (The option to do that is in the account menu at the top right of the site.)
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Already voted? You get more votes every time you make a Target purchase, so be sure to check back and vote again! |
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NCS will host our Spring Benefit on Wednesday, May 18th, at Chelsea Piers. Be sure not to miss our first in-person benefit since 2019! |
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Administrative Office
50 Broadway
Suite 1301
New York, NY 10004
Phone: (212) 537-5100
Fax: (212) 860-2301
ncs@ncsinc.org
www.ncsinc.org
Board of Directors
David A. Oliver
President
Wolcott B. Dunham, Jr.
Stephanie W. Guest
Thomas J. Kilkenny
Stuart N. Siegel
Vice Presidents
Susan Stevens
Treasurer
Jan F. Golann
Secretary
Victoria Bert
Anne S. Davidson
Abigail Black Elbaum
Alice Greif *
Matthew D. Hughes
Oren K. Isacoff
Ann Ross Loeb
Rachael Piltch-Loeb
Marta Radzyminski
Stephanie Shuman
Christopher W. Solomon
*in memoriam
Ann L. Shalof
Chief Executive Officer
NCS Programs
Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter provides New Yorkers who are homeless or at risk of homelessness with a home, a community, and access to the services that they need to thrive. We create innovative solutions and engage community partners to provide housing and support that can transform lives.
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