Bowery Residents Committee, Inc.
Hope. Health. Home
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
New York City continues to face the related challenges of affordable housing and homelessness. Each night, almost 60,000 individuals sleep in the city’s shelter system, and nearly 4,000 individuals live unsheltered in the city’s streets and subways. Once in shelter, homelessness is prolonged by significant cuts to the publicly funded rental housing subsidy programs that previously paved a path out of the shelter system. Meanwhile, public housing is not taking any new applicants except in special cases. The high cost of housing in New York City makes it nearly impossible for many to find and maintain reasonably priced housing. For New York’s most disenfranchised residents, these external challenges are compounded by personal challenges – limited education, criminal records, mental illness, substance abuse or chronic medical conditions – that create additional barriers to the resources they need to attain housing and stability.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Gateway Services
Adhering to a philosophy of harm reduction, and with the objective of making it easy for a homeless person to access services, the BRC Safe Havens (on the Bowery and in Washington Heights), and The Moving Home Initiative (located in the Bronx), provide a safe and welcoming environment for chronically homeless adults who have been living on the street and subways. Here, assistance in obtaining housing and employment is available, and health, mental health, and substance abuse services are offered, but not mandated. Beds, showers, clean clothes, and our own cooked meals are provided in a safe and supportive environment, making these BRC programs a welcome alternative to a municipal homeless shelter.
Preventing homelessness and relapse is as important as responding to it. BRC's case management programs focus on that. BRC's Home-Based Case Management programs offer one-to-one service coordination to seriously and persistently mentally-ill individuals, and other adults whose living situations may be unstable, and for whom service participation has proved challenging.
Transitional Housing
Numerous circumstances can cause someone to become homeless, and BRC has developed and operates a diverse array of transitional housing programs throughout the City where individuals can reside as they work to overcome these challenges and find permanent housing.
Each of these programs has a primary focus – such as mental illness, addiction, or employment – but takes a holistic approach to meeting the totality of a client’s needs.
To start, each client receives their own designated private sleeping area, usually in a dormitory setting, with lockable lockers. Showers and laundry are provided, as well as recreation areas and activities. Each program provides three nutritious meals a day on site, prepared in BRC’s own kitchens, with a menu developed in consultation with our medical staff.
Each client is assigned an independent living specialist, or case manager, who assists clients in applying for their benefits, making appointments, managing their health and mental health, preparing for housing, and navigating the many service systems with which they must interact. Importantly, we work with our clients, assisting them as they perform these tasks for themselves, as this improves the odds of their long term success after they leave BRC.
Treatment Services
At any hour of the day or night, the Chemical Dependency Crisis Center welcomes both those in need of residential detoxification from drugs and alcohol, and those in imminent risk of relapse. Licensed by New York State's Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, the Crisis Center operates with 24-hour nursing supervision. Unlike hospitals, the Crisis Center does not require insurance; the only thing required is the desire to be sober.
Preventing homelessness, incarceration and relapse is as important as responding to it. BRC's outpatient programs focus on that. For those dealing with addictions, BRC offers the Fred Cooper Substance Abuse Service Center (licensed by the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services). For the seriously and persistently mentally-ill, there is the Continuing Day Treatment Program (licensed by the New York State Office of Mental Health). Both offer individuals committed to maintaining their sobriety, their mental health - and very often both - a safe space to go every weekday - and most evenings. Here, they gain insight into their illness, participate in skill development activities, and develop social support networks.
Employment Services
Employment is a means to achieving economic independence. It is also a means of defining oneself as someone who is desired and valued, a powerful statement for men and women who may have been seen as just the opposite for quite some time. Horizons is BRC's agency-wide employment services program, offering assistance in finding and maintaining employment, as well as paid internships in BRC programs. Through Horizons, BRC's men and women have access to career counselors who help clients find jobs that match their skills, and then prepare for the interview; paid training internships in food services, maintenance and clerical areas within BRC for clients with the need to develop skills; educational programs; and workshops on finding and keeping a job, and managing the responsibilities that come with it.
Permanent Housing
Finding an affordable place to live is a challenge for any New Yorker, no less so for those BRC serves. But the length of the journey neither deters nor slows our clients.
To assist them in their journey home, BRC offers over 550 units of permanent housing, where residents have signed leases and tenancy rights. These include five supported housing programs BRC has built: The Glass Factory (45 units), Los Vecinos SRO (35 units), Clyde Burton House (33 units), the Palace SRO (24 units) and Liberty Homes (46 units). In these buildings BRC is the landlord, but a benevolent one. While rent collections are consistently at or above 95%, that is not the objective. On site staff provide support to tenants as they make the transition to independent living, and help to build a community of support among peers. Tenants establish linkages to services in the neighborhood with the goal of preventing the return of the issues that led to their once becoming homeless.
The other permanent homes BRC provides are part of our 370 scatter-site apartment programs. Residents lease apartments directly from private landlords. BRC staff provides case management services and community-building activities, just like in the SROs described above, with the distinction being that tenants are not all in the same building. Tenants of these programs reside in apartments in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Outreach Services
On the streets and in the subways, in bus terminals and business districts, and along the commuter rails of New York City, Westchester and Long Island, you'll find BRC Homeless Outreach workers. BRC is there around the clock, motivating homeless individuals sleeping in public spaces to take a step toward reclaiming their lives. Outreach offers a hand-up, not hand-out, and every day men and women who once lived in a public space accept our outstretched hand and take a step inside. BRC also trains volunteers who commit to a regular schedule, to work side-by-side with our outreach teams.
Where we work
Awards
Nonprofit Excellence Award 2015
New York Community Trust
Affiliations & memberships
Top 10 Finalist - Drucker Prize for Nonprofit Innovation 2015
External reviews
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of clients placed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Multiple programs work together to place individuals in our safe havens or shelters; or to transitional, supportive, or permanent housing based on their individual needs.
Number of clients served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of Housing Placements
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of participants who gain employment
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
We believe that human relationships are as important as physical environment to solving the challenges faced by the people we serve.
By recognizing that each of our clients has unique needs and strengths, and by treating each person with dignity and respect, and expecting the same in return, we are able to successfully empower those we serve to achieve and maintain a healthier and more independent life. We do this by listening, by meeting people where they're at, and by empowering them to be a force of change in their own lives.
We do our work holistically, with the goal of making a lasting and positive impact in the lives of the people we serve and the communities in which we work, and we believe in regularly measuring and evaluating ourselves to know whether we have succeeded, and why.
We recognize the potential our work has to not only transform the lives of those we serve, but the society in which we live, and believe it is our responsibility to use the collective experience of our work to inform the public discourse.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The core philosophy of BRC is that the people we serve need more than a handout, they need a hand up; this is how BRC can have an impact and how our clients can change their lives. With a range of programs focused on addressing the housing, treatment and support service needs of homeless and at-risk adults in New York City, BRC motivates our clients to develop strategies that work best for them. Our robust continuum of housing and services gives BRC insight into virtually every aspect of serving individuals in need; from providing employment resources and financial management assistance, to offering case management and other supportive services aimed at helping clients manage their physical and mental health, and finally, to helping residents find and maintain housing.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
BRC has developed a data-based performance management system within our organization that is clear, present, and rigorously disciplined. It provides a solid anchor for our ideas and practices, allowing us to be responsive to our clients and innovative within our field.
Our focus on evidence-based practices has helped distinguish BRC as one of the city's most innovative providers of comprehensive services that help individuals find a path to long-term stability.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In the idea stage, BRC identifies where gaps exist in the way homelessness, addiction, and mental health services are provided to New York City residents in need.
The market for low-income housing has disappeared; doing “better and more" of what we already did actually made things worse, increasing demand without impacting supply. Even when clients did all the right things, they were still unable to get the housing they needed to get out and stay out of the shelter system.For example, two years ago we realized that our approach to finding housing for our shelter clients no longer reflected reality in which our clients operated.
The second stage of innovation is the pilot phase. During this phase a solution has been defined to a specific problem and BRC tests it through a pilot program. That pilot program is then monitored, evaluated, and improved over time until it is a mature program that can be replicated at BRC or within other New York City agencies.
The final stage of innovation is replication. Once a pilot program has matured and proved to be effective, we work to make that program replicable throughout New York City agencies — this allows us to improve service delivery across our entire field.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We share the feedback we received with the people we serve, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Bowery Residents Committee, Inc.
Board of directorsas of 03/18/2024
Julie Salamon
Author and Journalist
Julie Salamon
Author and Journalist
Marcy Wilkov
American Express (retired)
Lawrence Graham
Brookfield Office Properties (retired)
Antonio Molestina
ABN AMRO Bank N.V.
Simon Miller
Eisner Law
Philip Pitruzzello
Blackrock, Inc.
Matthew Sirovich
Scopia Capital
Richard Swanson
York Capital Management
Julia Hodgson
World Wide Group
Todd Snyder
TRS Advisors, LLC
Leslie Wildes
Association to Benefit Children
Danny Bloom
Weight Watchers
Richard Eaddy
Savills Studley
Rose Ostrow
Thomson Reuters
Katy Stokes
Community Activist
Matthew Sirovich
Scopia Capital
Julia Hodgson
The World Wide Group
Steven Safyer
Montefiore Medicine (Retired)
Brouck Amerga
Turner Construction
Devon Lawrence
Clark Lawrence Consulting
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
No data
Transgender Identity
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 03/18/2024GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.