The Power of Us
Annual Report 2021
A Letter from Our CEO
Dear Friends,
Human beings contain multitudes, but systems are too-often biased toward one-size-fits-all solutions.
At University Settlement, we take a different approach.
We have programs for expecting mothers, and newborns, and children under five. We work with young people in after-school, summer camp, and college prep. Every year more than 400 adults build English and civic literacy with us. We run the programming at community centers in the heart of three bustling neighborhoods, and a network of activities for adults over 60. We engage our neighbors with dedicated mental health and art-making programs, while also weaving those resources into everything we do. And even as we provide direct services to address immediate needs, we connect our neighbors through civic engagement and to the fight for greater equality—pushing the needle of the possible while doing what needs to be done right now.
We work this way because we know that human connection can create exponential value, and that engaging our neighbors in their powerful individuality helps build stronger communities.
That’s why individual and communal self-determination are among our deepest core values, why listening is one of our most important tools, and why we are hyper-focused on the neighborhoods where we operate. And it’s why we do so many different things as one organization—because when we approach our neighbors holistically, with a wide range of complementary services, with teams who approach their very different work from a shared perspective, and with people who are empowered and encouraged to connect the dots, everything we do is more successful.
Honoring difference, insisting on complexity, and forging relationships are the pillars of our approach, which we’ve honed in our neighborhoods for the last 135 years.
It’s the power of US.
This approach sets us apart from many other non-profits. Organizations who depend on investment from governments and foundations are strongly incentivized to simplify, specialize, and define success on quick timeframes.
Our complex world requires holistic responses, and that’s precisely why the support of partners like you is so invaluable.
In gratitude,
Melissa Aase
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Our Mission
Building community power through professional development
Hiring from within our neighborhoods and creating pathways for staff to grow their careers with US is one important way we build collective power in our communities. In 2022 Raymunda "Linda" Ramirez retired after 37 years with the agency, during which she'd worked as a cook, a teacher's aide, and an assistant teacher at our Early Childhood Center.
Integrating health and wellness programs into early education
Integrating health and wellness education into our relationships with families in our programs helps build community strength. Our Early Head Start program in Brooklyn observed World Cancer Day by greeting parents and children with a purple ribbon during drop-off, prompting conversations about cancer screening and healthy lifestyles.
Keeping neighborhoods connected by fighting evictions
Fighting evictions helps us keep our neighborhoods connected. In 2021 we led a coalition of organizations on the Lower East Side to help our neighbors access New York State’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program, while also expanding our housing advocacy program Project Home into new neighborhoods in Brooklyn.
Our Impact
The Power of a 21st Century Settlement House
Established in 1886 as the first Settlement House in the United States, we bring the values of that movement into the 21st century by:
- Fighting poverty and systemic inequality with responsive programs
and advocacy; - Engaging all members of the community from newborns to elders;
- Joyfully nurturing the whole person by addressing basic needs
including food, education, culture, learning, and community.
of children moving on from our Early Childhood Education centers were socially and emotionally “school-ready”—a monumental feat considering the impact of COVID.
65,000
meals were delivered to homebound elders.
1,899
children and adults received affordable, culturally sensitive mental healthcare.
58%
of adult English learners in our literacy program also met with counselors to discuss their goals and connect to other resources.
3,457
children and young adults participated in our safe, fun, purpose-driven after-school programs.
134
artists provided bedside art instruction to more than 5,000 hospitalized people.
Stories from FY21
Integrating mental healthcare into youth development programs
Creating supportive environments where young people in our communities can talk about their feelings
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In 2020, remote instruction necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic drove significant learning loss for students in our communities. But our teams understood that the effects of isolation would extend well beyond young people’s engagement with academics, and into their social and emotional lives.
Last summer, New York City’s Summer Rising curriculum infused our summer camps with instruction in literacy, math, science, music, and other subjects, led by public school teachers.
Integrated mental health services are never supported by our City contracts for summer camp, nor is mental health funding often allocated to community based organizations like University Settlement. But we dug deep into our program budget to fund integrated social-emotional and mental health engagement for all our 2021 summer camps.
Families Thriving, one of our strengths-based mental health programs, checked in with just over 550 youth participants (in kindergarten–high school) to have age-appropriate psychoeducational conversations about feelings and how they’ve been showing up in our lives.
Engaging our participants in discussions about their emotions was just one of the many ways we sought to learn more about their lives and situations, to provide a holistic and supportive environment for them.
Among those surveyed, we found that approximately:
- 15% of youth (2nd grade–HS) feel little or no hope for the future
- 24% of youth (K–HS) feel down almost all the time
As heartbreaking as it was to hear our campers articulate such challenging emotions, it was also tremendously valuable to have these conversations, as a necessary first step toward healing.
With this nuanced understanding of the mental health crisis young people in our communities were facing, in Fall 2021 we increased access to approachable and comprehensive mental health services for families in our communities by expanding Families Thriving in partnership with schools, parents, and our own youth development programs.
Investments in preventative, community-based, and holistic mental healthcare are a powerful driver of community strength, and integrating Families Thriving into our youth programs is already making a powerful impact in our neighborhoods.
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Self-Defense Classes for Older Adults
In response to rising violence
targeting Asian-American and Pacific Islander
(AAPI) people in NYC
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In 2021, rising violence targeting Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) people in NYC continued causing significant anxiety for many of our neighbors—a growing additional burden for communities that were already experiencing disproportionate challenges during the pandemic.
In response, last fall we began offering self-defense classes on the Lower East Side in partnership with concerned community members.
Sammy Yuen, one of our teachers, says that self-awareness, more than any specific physical techniques, is the key to safety in most cases: “I’m not going to teach someone how to fight off five people at the same time in an hour session. Self-defense is about spatial and environmental awareness. It’s really about being aware of your environment and avoiding the whole situation in general.”
May Wong, who often participates in the healthy aging programs we offer at the Neighborhood Center, told reporters that she “rarely goes out these days, afraid of being assaulted on the street” – but that she’s made an exception to attend these classes.
“Now, if anyone harasses me, I can help defend myself a little,” she said. Click here to see video of May practicing the techniques she’s learned.
Mary Yuen told CBS Evening News that the class has underlined the importance of being “very aware” of her surroundings.
On Tuesday mornings on the Lower East Side, many of the same older adults who come for our popular ballroom dancing classes now stick around to learn how to protect themselves should they find themselves the target of harassment or violence—an important expansion of our work, because everyone in our neighborhoods should feel safe where they live.
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Preventing Family Separation in East New York
A new program aiming to keep children in their
homes and out of the foster system, partnering
with families in East New York
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By the age of 18, 53% of Black children nationally will have been investigated as potential victims of child abuse, compared to 37% of all children. In 2019, Black children were 23% of all those in foster care in the United States, even though just 14% of the people under 18 were Black.
Each of these numbers is an indictment of a failed approach. Good intentions only count for so much, and the reality is that foster care systems all too often inflict trauma on the children and families they seek to protect.
Families belong together—it’s true at the border, and in Brooklyn and on the Lower East Side. And it’s what animates University Settlement’s Prevention Program, which finished its first year of operations in 2021. Our newest program aims to keep children in their homes and out of the system, partnering with families in East New York as they do the always-challenging work of parenting under the severe resource constraints of poverty.
Elvis Balbuena, one of our case managers, visits with families every week, and characterized what makes our approach different:
“We’re there to help the neighborhood and help the families, not as a court-mandated presence or as a figure of authority—we’re there to engage closely and build interpersonal connections.”
“When people hear the words ‘case manager,’ unfortunately the immediate assumption is that we are there to take away their kids,” he continued. “So we have to work hard to establish empathy and compassion from our very first interactions with families. I approach engagements with curiosity and care—it comes down to understanding people’s circumstances, eventually having families come to accept that you’re there for them, that they’re not just a check on a list.”
“People don’t realize how much everyone wants someone to talk to,” he concluded. “I’m not their therapist, but I’m there to listen. It takes people a while to feel comfortable speaking, revealing themselves. The people I’m working with are often involved in court cases, and they’ve been ignored and condescended to. When I meet with people, I’m patient and persistent—it might take until the fourth, fifth, tenth time we meet, but when the mother or father opens up we can start working together, because the family comes to understand that there’s another component in their support system.”
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Our Approach
We follow our neighbors’ lead
Since 1886, we’ve been listening to the people in our communities and responding to their priorities. As our understanding evolves, so do our programs.
Social Work
Social work as a formal discipline grew out of the methods and practices pioneered by University Settlement and our peer settlement houses in the late 1800s. Teaching the next generation of social workers is an important part of our mission—every year we welcome more than 30 student interns from NYC’s 8 graduate schools of social work to do their fieldwork with US.
Youth Development
We first established a school-based community center at East Side Community High School as part of the first class of Beacon Programs in 1991. In 2021, we now operate an extensive network of high-quality after-school programs across Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan, including our newest Community School at PS/MS 34.
Mental Health + Wellness
When World War II veterans suffering from shellshock (now recognized as PTSD) returned to the LES, we established one of the first community mental healthcare clinics in the US. Today, mental healthcare is integrated into each of our programs, and we remain committed to breaking down stigma while creating access to culturally sensitive care for our neighbors.
Our Programs
We fight poverty and systemic inequality by engaging our neighbors of all ages, from newborns to elders, with innovative, responsive programs that address basic needs while facilitating culture, learning, and community.
Early Childhood
We supported 845 young children and their families with a spectrum of education and care services including center-based learning, neighborhood-based family childcare, and home-based assistance.
Youth Development
Older Adults
Mental Health + Wellness
Literacy
Housing Sustainability
Creative Arts
Art helps build healthy communities and we engage thousands of our neighbors with two distinct arts programs: The Creative Center, which brings art’s healing power into healthcare settings; and The Performance Project, which fosters collaboration between professional artists and low-income New Yorkers.
our financials
Our budget in 2021 was $39 million.
How our budget breaks down by program
how we’re funded
Charity Navigator gives University Settlement an Encompass Rating of 100 based on our financial stability, efficiency, and sustainability and our commitment to strong governance practices and policies.
Our Donors
Thank you to everyone who supported our programs during Fiscal Year 2021! Your support helps us build the Power of US. The Donors listed below made gifts to University Settlement during the 2021 fiscal year: July 1, 2020–June 30,2021.
Private Funders
GOVERNMENT FUNDERS
- District Attorney of New York County
- NYC Administration for Children’s Services
- New York City Council
- NYC Department for the Aging
- NYC Department of Cultural Affairs
- NYC Department of Education
- NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
- NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development
- NYC Department of Youth and Community Development
- NYS Council on The Arts
- NYS Department of Health
- NYS Education Department
- NYS Office for the Aging
- NYS Office of Children and Family Services
- NYS Office of Mental Health
- NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance
- US Department of Agriculture
- US Department of Education
- US Department of Health and Human Services
- US Federal Emergency Management Assistance
- US National Endowment for the Arts
Board of Directors
Renée Eubanks
Co-Chair
Ronni Fisher
Vice President for Programs
Aviva Will
Secretary
Leonard Berman
Emma Bloch
Hale Gurland
Ken C. Joseph, Esq.
Debbie Madden
Richard Médor
Benjamin Schall
Co-Chair
Thomas W. Morgan
Treasurer
Alan P. Winters
Immediate Past Chair
Steve Perricone
Steve Schall
David Shapiro
Harly Stevens
Andrew Zhu
Ian Zilla
Board of Directors
Renée Eubanks
Co-Chair
Benjamin Schall
Co-Chair
Ronni Fisher
Vice President for Programs
Thomas W. Morgan
Treasurer
Aviva Will
Secretary
Alan P. Winters
Immediate Past Chair
Leonard Berman
Emma Bloch
Hale Gurland
Ken C. Joseph, Esq.
Debbie Madden
Richard Médor
Steve Perricone
Steve Schall
David Shapiro
Harly Stevens
Andrew Zhu
Ian Zilla