PLATINUM2024

Seafarers & International House, Inc.

Lighting the way for seafarers and immigrants since 1873

aka Seafarers International House   |   New York, NY   |  www.sihnyc.org

Mission

Seafarers International House is the Lutheran response to the urgent needs of vulnerable seafarers and immigrants. Seafarers International House (SIH) was founded over 150 years ago in 1873 by the Swedish Lutheran Church, initially as a mission to Swedish seafarers in the Port of New York and shortly thereafter as a mission to both Swedish seafarers and Swedish immigrants. Incidental to the consolidation of various Lutheran judicatories in the United States over the years, Seafarers International House became an affiliated mission of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 1987. It is a tax-exempt, 501 (c) (3) organization, incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation under the laws of New York State.

Notes from the nonprofit

Thank you for your interest in Seafarers International House and the often invisible people we serve. Please contact us at [email protected] with any questions or suggestions.

Ruling year info

1963

Executive Director

Rev. Marsh Luther Drege

Main address

123 East 15th Street

New York, NY 10003 USA

Show more contact info

Formerly known as

Augustana Lutheran Church's New York mission to Swedish seafarers and immigrants

Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod's Immigrant Home in New York City

The Swedish Lutheran Immigrant Home of New York City

Lutheran Seamen's Center of the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church

The Seamen's Center of the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church

German Seamen's Mission in New York - Deutsche Seemannsmission e.V. in New York

Seafarers International House

EIN

13-5562413

NTEE code info

Human Services - Multipurpose and Other N.E.C. (P99)

Housing Search Assistance (L30)

International Migration, Refugee Issues (Q71)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is not required to file an annual return with the IRS because it is a church.

Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seafarers International House (SIH) offers hospitality, social assistance, and advocacy to a multi-national and multi-faith community in maritime ports on the Eastern Seaboard and in New York City. The communities we serve are marginalized seafarers, often mature in age, with a very limited social safety net of friends or family, and few financial resources, and young asylees, who fled their homelands from prosecution and are trying to “make it here” in the USA. For the latter, we provide the first home, food and shelter, and social assistance in finding permanent housing and employment. For the first, we are an anchor, providing a home and social assistance as mariners look for the next ship assignment or try to navigate retirement and social security. Furthermore, SIH provided temporary housing to survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking in addition to displaced individuals referred to by the Red Cross.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Port Mission - Ship Visits

Cargo ships are operated with a crew of 22 seafarers (mariners or people working on ships), who work on 8-12 month contracts, and rarely get off their ships due to rapid cargo handling technologies and restrictive homeland security policies.Our five port chaplains board the ships, provide Wi-Fi connections, so they can contact their families, offer pastoral care, and serve as their advocates and report to the proper authorities unsatisfactory conditions on their ships. They fulfill shopping orders and deliver the goods to the vessels. They also transport seafarers to malls and lately vaccination sites.
Seafarers International House offers pastoral/spiritual care, hospitality, social work assistance, and advocacy to a multi-national and multi-faith community in four ports currently (Albany, Baltimore, New Haven, New York & New Jersey).

Population(s) Served
Adults
Unemployed people

This program reaches out to refugees/asylum seekers, domestic violence victims and persons displaced by natural disasters and municipal service failures in the greater metropolitan New York City area. Refugees and asylum seekers are persons who have fled to escape persecution in their homelands on account of race, religion, nationality, social ties or political opinion.  Often they are placed in jail-like detention centers, where our volunteers visit them.
Working with a number of agencies providing legal, counseling and acculturation services for the refugees and asylum seekers, Seafarers International House provides lodging for periods of one to three months.  Additionally, our social worker provides additional counseling with respect not only to the persecution from which the refugee and asylum seeker fled, but as well from the trauma of the detention center or prison to which he or she was taken and confined for many months. The duration of stays was shorter during the pandemic.

Population(s) Served
Adults
Unemployed people

Thank you to all 2023 contributors! With your help we delivered a record 3,118 Christmas-at-Sea satchels to seafarers during the Christmas Season of 2023.
90% of global trade is transported on the high seas by crew members on container ships who remain invisible to most people, yet our supply chains especially during the Holidays depend on their services. Seafarers are the unseen essential workers and are often overworked and lonely. Therefore, we invite you, your business, school group or congregation to spread Holiday Cheer among seafarers who will not be home with their loved ones for Christmas. Our port chaplains safely deliver the satchels filled with warm clothing and greeting cards to the ships for the holiday.

Population(s) Served
Adults

This program is a part of the Immigrant Mission described above. Seafarers International House (SIH) operating in NYC, assists asylum seekers serving 49 individuals in 2023 from Afghanistan, Angola, Benin, Chad, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Iran, Jamaica, Liberia, Libya, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Peru, Sudan, Tunisia, Ukraine, and Venezuela.

When visits are again allowed, we asylum seekers in Detention Centers giving them hope and presence as they wait for months or even years in prison-like conditions for their fate to be decided. Once released, we offer some a room to stay for free until they find a job and their own home. Thus, they avoid the risks of becoming homeless or exploited. Last year, we assisted 49 asylees with food, housing, transportation, and job placement.

Population(s) Served
Immigrants and migrants
Young adults

Where we work

Videos

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Average number of service recipients per month

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Port Mission - Ship Visits

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Annual number of seafarers visited on board.

Number of bed nights (nights spent in shelter)

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Immigrants and migrants

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Number of lodging nights provided to asylees and immigrants free of charge (along with food cards and public transportation cards).

Number of people received immigration service

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Immigrants and migrants, LGBTQ people

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Number of asylees & immigrants SIH provided free lodging to per year and who were assisted in navigating the red-tape (immigration, housing, employment, higher education).

Number of care packages delivered

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Christmas-At-Sea Program: A Holiday Initative

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Number of "Christmas-at-Sea" satchels, that is holiday packages delivered to seafarers regardless of faith, containing a sweater, T-shirt, socks, hat, scarf and holiday greeting.

Number of clients in residential care

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

LGBTQ people, Young adults, Ethnic and racial groups

Related Program

Assistance and Visitation of Young Asylum Seekers and Asylees

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Asylees (asylum seekers granted asylum) that SIH provided with lodging, food, transportation and social worker assistance.

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

SIH seeks to assist people that are confined, dislocated; those that are fleeing from violence and persecution, that are working in isolation on container and freight ships, or that are otherwise in transition.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, SIH is championing seafarers, the invisible essential workers, who are stuck on ships because of travel restrictions and have to extend their contracts. Government have to seriously address the crew change crisis before our supply chains get further disrupted. We offer housing to seafarers who are stranded in Manhattan between job assignments and our port chaplains visit exhausted crew and check on their well-being.

Serve seafarers with temporary lodging in NYC and at the ports with ship visits and transportation.

Offer asylees (those asylum seekers that are granted asylum) and other displaced persons free lodging, food, and transportation and assist them to become self-sufficient.

Seafarers International House has six port chaplains operating on the Eastern Seaboard with a van each to transport seafarers from the ports to hospitals or malls.



The Executive Director and a Social Worker Intern provide social assistance to seafarers and asylees. This includes helping them navigate the red-tape, and supporting their efforts to find employment and permanent housing.

During the COVID pandemic in 2020, SIH served a total of 19,746 people. This included visiting 14,644 and with restricted shore leave transporting 1,351 seafarers. SIH also provided 2,211 lodging nights (at rented space at a different mid-town hotel) and social services to seafarers (74), asylees (12), and survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking and local disasters (14).

For comparison, in 2019, SIH served a total of 38,225 people. This included visiting 18,353 and transporting 10,114 seafarers. SIH also provided 5,214 lodging nights and social services to seafarers (218), asylum seekers (36), and domestic violence, human trafficking, and local disaster survivors (68).

In 2020, SIH was hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lack of tourists that in past years accounted for 75% of guesthouse revenue which in turn subsidized our mission.

We seek to stabilize in 2021, leasing the guesthouse to a community partner taking care of home insecure people, renting rooms for lodging of seafarers and asylees at a different location, and ramping up fundraising income, a process that started in 2020, all to continue to assist seafarers and asylum seekers.

Financials

Seafarers & International House, Inc.
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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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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Seafarers & International House, Inc.

Board of directors
as of 01/18/2024
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Captain Richard Schoenlank

Retired Sandy Hooks Pilot Association

Term: 2019 - 2024

Tracie L. Bartholomew

Bishop, New Jersey Synod, ELCA

Rev. Linda Manson

Assistant to the Bishop, Southeastern Synod, ELCA, Atlanta, GA

Stephen A. Bennett

Vice President of Product & Research, CAIS, New York, NY

Harry Forse

Retired Investment Banker, St. Paul, MN

Rev. James E. Hazelwood

Bishop, New England Synod, ELCA

Mary B. Heller

Psychotherapist Poughkeepsie , NY

Leslie A. Neve

Retired Clinical Transport Coordinator, SUNY Health Science Center, Brooklyn, NY

Rev. Joshua Rinas

Pastor, ELCA, Toledo, OH

E. Roy Riley

Retired, Bishop, New Jersey Synod, ELCA

Jacob Shisha

Founding Partner, Tabak Mellusi & Shisha LLP, New York, NY

Rev. Ramon A. Collazo

Ministry Elizabeth Detention Center and Santa Isabel Lutheran Church, Elizabeth, NJ

Rev. Paul Egensteiner

Bishop, Metropolitan New York Synod, ELCA

Emiko Furuya-Cortes, Esq.

Immigration Attorney-at-Law, Long Island City, NY

Raymond Henderson

Seafarers International Union, Jersey City, NJ

Kay Bellor

Retired Vice President for Programs, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), Baltimore, MD

Conor Patrick Brooks

Senior Director of Advancement, United Lutheran Seminary, Philadelphia, PA

Rev. Mark A. Grorud

Retired Executive Director, Immanuel Vision Foundation, Omaha, NE

Nico Sermoneta

Patrolman for the Port of NY/NJ, MEBA Dist 1-PCD (AFL-CIO)

Rev. Sohail Akhtar

Pastor, First English Lutheran Church, Lockport, NY

Rev. Bradley D. Gow

Pastor, St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Riegelsville PA

Anthony Pruzinsky, Esq.

Semi-retired Managing Partner, Hill Rivkins LLP, New York, NY

Cecilia Aranzamendez

Executive Director for Community Services, LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF NEW YORK, NY

Tom Larkin

Vice President Atlantic Ports, International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots (MM&P), Jersey City, NJ

Kurt B. Plankl, Esq.

Counsel, Seward & Kissel, LLP, New York, NY

Andrew G. Steele

Chief Development and Mobilization Officer, Global Refuge, Baltimore, MD

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • 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 ? No
  • 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

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 2/9/2023
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

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
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Male, Not transgender
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or Straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

Transgender Identity

Sexual orientation

Disability

We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.

Equity strategies

Last updated: 02/19/2021

GuideStar 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

Data
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
Policies and processes
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.