Mission

Founded in 1893 by Lillian Wald, a social reformer and seminal Progressive Era activist, Henry Street Settlement’s enduring mission is to open doors of opportunity to enrich lives and enhance human progress for Lower East Side residents and other New Yorkers through social services, arts, and health care programs. As a deeply embedded anchor in our community, for 132 years Henry Street has remained true to our founding purpose as an organization—including fighting intergenerational poverty; stabilizing, enriching, and transforming our neighbors’ holistic wellbeing; and fostering a sense of empowerment, hope, and belonging among those we serve. As an organization, Henry Street is distinctive in our ability to maintain fully holistic on-the-ground services, while simultaneously performing as a best-in-class institution in terms of bold innovation/creativity, organizational fortitude, and leadership in the field. We have an extraordinary legacy of spearheading groundbreaking, nationally replicable solutions to social problems—including placing the first nurse in a public school (1902); founding one of the nation’s first place-based Mental Hygiene Clinic in low-income public housing (1946); establishing the nation’s first apartment-style shelter for homeless families (1972); helping create one of the first Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORC) in a public housing development (1994); and serving as a community first responder after numerous major crises including 9/11 (2001), Superstorm Sandy (2012), and COVID-19 (2020). Today, Henry Street reaches more than 50,000 community members each year through our comprehensive suite of integrated, inclusive, and innovative human services, offered at 18 sites across the Lower East Side and within four primary service areas: Education & Employment, Transitional & Supportive Housing, Health & Wellness, and Visual & Performing Arts.