Goddard Riverside Community Center

Goddard Riverside addresses the need for underserved individuals and families to have access to the same opportunities as their more affluent neighbors so they can lead more secure, healthier, more prosperous and satisfying lives now, and break the cycle of poverty so that future generations can enjoy these same benefits.

This past year Goddard Riverside operated 34 programs at 22 sites across New York City, primarily on the Upper West Side and in Harlem. Our programs reached more than 22,000 people - from the ages of 2 to 105 – and from all parts of New York City. 85% of the people we serve are low-income, with many living at or below the poverty line. We work within a social justice framework to create a fair and just society where all people have the opportunity to make choices that lead to better lives for themselves and their families.

Preparing Children and Youth for Success
Studies show that early investments in children pays off many times over by helping them achieve their full potential. We provide a continuum of programs from Early Childhood Education through college and beyond to support young people as they become self-reliant, contributing members of society. When children and youth thrive, they contribute positively and are prepared for the next stage in their lives.

Fighting Homelessness and Supporting Housing for All.
New Yorkers in need should have stable and affordable housing. We conduct outreach to homeless individuals to help them come indoors. We offer transitional housing via a Safe Haven and operate five housing properties where we provide safe, affordable homes for people who have experienced homelessness, those living with disabilities or mental illness, and older adults. In addition, we offer free legal services to help people remain in their homes and ensure that health and safety standards are met.

Promoting Behavioral Health and Wellness
Our mental health programs support people to live in the community and stay connected to family and friends. We work to help each person to maximize their individual abilities to reach their fullest potential. These services form a continuum, from the ACT Team – a mobile clinic that serves people living with severe mental illness -- to our Green Keepers social enterprise business, which offers jobs and job training to people re-entering the workforce.

Enriching the Lives of Older Adults
We believe in “aging in community” – that is, supporting older adults to live secure, healthy, and socially rich lives. We provide affordable housing for older adults as well as Senior Centers and NORCs (Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities) offer daily socialization, exercise, and nutrition programs. We believe all older adults should experience an optimal quality of life.

Strengthening Families and Communities
Building community is a fundamental objective of Goddard Riverside. We believe families and communities should be self-directed and thriving. We do this by providing space and programming for community gatherings, facilitating community engagement by hosting community board meetings and meet-the-candidate events, and offering a rich array of arts programs open to the community. We also connect families to the resources they need to thrive.

For well over a century, Goddard Riverside has galvanized people, organizations and systems with the goal that every person in our community can reach their fullest potential. Goddard Riverside is a leader among non-profit organizations in New York City and among Settlement Houses internationally.

We share our best practices and lessons learned with our partners and invested in change beyond our direct services because we know transformational change takes a collective effort, for example.
- Goddard helped NYC move closer to closing the postsecondary attainment gap in NYC by successfully leading a collective impact initiative - #DegreesNYC – that has created a Blueprint for greater equity in college access and success and collectively developed 16 priority recommendations for closing the gap. #DegreesNYC has received support from national funders – the Kresge Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
- Goddard led the formation of the Manhattan Outreach Consortium, three service providers working to prevent homelessness.

Goddard Riverside has a strong board of directors and senior leadership team driven by a strategic plan.
- We have fulfilled many goals laid out in Goddard Riverside’s 2015 strategic plan while undergoing a successful leadership transition following the retirement of former Executive Director Stephan Russo and the arrival of Dr. Roderick Jones to lead the agency in its next era. Dr. Jones has been focused on the Plan’s strategic priorities regarding sustainability through capacity building and stronger infrastructure and administrative systems.

Many of Goddard Riverside’s programs are known as models within their fields and Goddard’s staff members are sector leaders, for example:
- The Law Project was part of the Right to Counsel Coalition that was instrumental in passing the law that mandates free legal representation for low income tenants in New York City.
- LaKisha Williams, the Options Center’s Policy and Advocacy Manager, won a 2018 UNH Civic Advocacy Award in recognition of her significant contributions to fostering social justice in NYC.; Susan Matloff-Nieves was inducted into the Notable Women in Human Services Hall of Fame in Albany; and Goddard’s Options Center won the NCAN College Access Organization of Excellence award.
- Completed a merger with Lincoln Square Neighborhood Center, preserving and strengthening early childhood, youth, and aging programs serving the Amsterdam Houses/Amsterdam Addition NYCHA developments and surrounding community.

Over the last year, the agency continued to move forward with strategic projects launched prior to COVID-19, including performance enhancement, data collection and management, and developing results frameworks for each program. We have also undertaken a strategic alliance with the Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center (Isaacs Center). The alliance is a mutual coming together, with an eye toward greater financial strength and increased impact for the communities we both serve. Both Goddard Riverside and the Isaacs Center have deep roots in respective communities on the Upper West and Upper East Side. We share a commitment to serving the invisible pockets of poverty overshadowed by surrounding affluence, and have a physical presence in local New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments, including Stephen Wise Towers, Amsterdam Houses, Isaacs Houses/Holmes Towers, and Taft/Johnson Houses. We look forward to leveraging synergies and strengths across our two agencies, to bring about transformation in the communities we serve.

While we look toward future opportunities, we continue to grapple with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has brought varying levels of crisis over the past 18 months: from the urgent needs for emergency food and safety, to academic adversity and economic hardship – the effects of which are ongoing and will take time to overcome. The challenges facing our community are numerous and are changing, and Goddard Riverside continues to meet this need.

Amidst a time of chaos and uncertainty, Goddard Riverside provided stability and outreach.

Our Older Adult Centers and Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs) provided regular telephone reassurance and wellness calls and kept a schedule of virtual programming. TOP Clubhouse, whose members are men and women living with serious and persistent mental illness, offered a weekly schedule of Zoom meetings for members, including Yoga on Mondays and Fridays, Wellness on Tuesdays, the “Living Zoom” (a social/recreational time) on Wednesdays, as well as a Reopening Committee Meeting and Community Meeting on Thursdays. In addition to providing weekly tutoring for 132 students, our Star Learning Center built an online community where everything from holidays to high school graduation was celebrated. Many of our TOP Opportunities participants did not know about or how to apply for unemployment benefits - Employment Specialists provided benefits counseling by collaboratively assisting and educating on unemployment insurance for participants to weather through a whole year of job loss and financial insecurity. Youth participating in our Beacon Program and LSNC After School program remained in school despite facing challenges with remote learning, and clients of our Resource Center and Law Project remained housed despit