User:SA.Hur/United Neighborhood Houses of New York

United Neighborhood Houses of New York (UNH) is a 501(c) nonprofit membership organization of 37 independent community centers and settlement houses located throughout New York City. Rooted in the history and values of the settlement house movement, UNH promotes a neighborhood-based, multi-service approach to improving the lives of New Yorkers in need and the communities in which they live. Today, UNH comprises one of the largest human service systems in New York City.

United Neighborhood Houses is headquartered on 36th street in midtown Manhattan, two blocks away from Herald Square. The President of UNH’s board is Lewis Kramer, a retired partner at Ernst & Young LLP. Sidney Lapidus, a retired partner at Warburg Pincus, LLC, serves as the organization’s Honorary Chair. In the fall of 2002, Nancy Wackstein, former Director of the Mayor’s Office on Homelessness and SRO Housing, was named UNH’s Executive Director. Prior to this position, Ms. Wackstein had also served as the Executive Director of Lenox Hill Neighborhood House—one of UNH’s member agencies—for eleven years.

History
In 1886, Stanton Coit founded America's first settlement house, the Neighborhood Guild (later renamed University Settlement) on New York City's Lower East Side. Over the next decade, Jane Addams founded Hull House in Chicago, and other civic leaders such as Lillian Wald (founder of Henry Street Settlement) established settlement houses in New York City. Many of these individuals had been influenced by the founders and staff of London's Toynbee Hall and other British social activists who believed that students and people of wealth should "settle" in poverty-stricken neighborhoods both to provide services to help improve the daily quality of life, as well as to evaluate conditions and work for social reform.

United Neighborhood Houses first became a part of the settlement house movement at the turn of the 20th century when John L. Elliott and Mary K. Simkhovitch, themselves founders of individual settlement houses in New York City, started the Association of Neighborhood Workers. The Association was intended "to effect cooperation among those who are working for neighborhood and civic improvement, and to promote movements for social progress.” In 1919, the Association was formally incorporated as United Neighborhood Houses of New York.

Focus Areas
UNH has six key focus areas that it addresses through advocacy, policy analysis, and the provision of direct resources to member agencies for program innovation and enhancement.

Children
UNH aims to expand the availability of quality, affordable child care, Pre-Kindergarten, Head Start, afterschool and summer enrichment programs. In addition to advocacy efforts, UNH works with community partners to provide innovative programming to children at its member agencies. Current initiatives include Citi Field Kids, which gives young people the opportunity to attend a Mets game and hear personal success stories from various media figures, and KidSmart, a collaboration with IBM that integrates teaching and learning activities into the Pre-K curricula using the latest technology.

Youth
UNH advocates for educational and enrichment opportunities for youth. This includes afterschool and youth development programs as well as youth employment and workforce development initiatives. In addition, UNH provides scholarships for college-bound youth, offers professional development to staff members of college access programs, and plays a leading role in several campaigns such as the Campaign for Summer Jobs and the Campaign for Tomorrow's Workforce.

Adult Literacy and Immigrant Services
UNH works to support comprehensive and accessible quality educational services for immigrants and other adults who need them. These services, provided to over 14,000 immigrants by settlement houses, include: classes in civics, English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), citizenship and legal assistance, resume and interview assistance, and job placement and training.

Older Adults
UNH aims to assure the availability of quality services that support New York's growing older adult population. These services, provided to over 60,000 Older Adults each year by settlement houses, include: senior centers, case management, home delivered meals, adult day programs, mental health services, home care, and services in Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs).

Housing Stability
UNH looks to strengthen communities in public housing and advocates for programs to prevent homelessness. More than half of New York City’s settlement houses operate services in a New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) development, and UNH works with NYCHA to keep this space affordable. UNH also is a member of the Steering Committee of the New York City Coalition on the Continuum of Care, which develops evaluation criteria of proposals for federally funded homeless services under the McKinney-Vento Act.

Healthy Food
Two of every five New Yorkers and nearly 50% of households with children do not have access to fresh, affordable food close to home, especially in low-income communities. Residents of these communities, known as "food deserts", can suffer significant health problems because of poor diet. UNH and its member agencies are increasingly involved in efforts to bring fresh food to families through urban gardens, farmers' markets, fresh food buyer’s clubs, healthy cooking classes, and more.

Advocacy
UNH advocates for public policies that provide essential services for children, youth, immigrants and older adults in New York City's communities. UNH does this by documenting and drawing attention to the critical role of these services in keeping communities strong. At the table, UNH plays an active role in policy discussions regarding the funding and design of services, identifying effective practices and program models, and urging State and City leaders to plan for and fund comprehensive community services for New Yorkers in need. The organization also strives to bring together parents, teens, older adults, children, program staff, and advocates each year to fight for the preservation of human services in the city’s budget.

Affiliations
UNH is part of the national organization of settlement houses known as the United Neighborhood Centers of America (UNCA), a membership of 160 neighborhood centers across the country. UNH and New York City settlement houses are also members of the International Federation of Settlement Houses and Neighborhood Centers (IFS), an association of national, regional and local organizations working to strengthen communities throughout the world.