Established in 1831, ESS is a non-sectarian organization serving New York City’s most vulnerable citizens through programs in foster care and adoption, early childhood education, after-school programs, group homes for developmentally disabled adults, and community re-integration of the formerly-incarcerated. ESS’ mission is to strengthen people in need to a point where they can live and succeed independently.

Description:
Episcopal Social Services (ESS) was founded in 1831 to “care for the helpless and help the needy find resources – within themselves and their communities – to lead full and abundant lives.” Over the course of its history, ESS has worked with people in need from all walks of life: unwed mothers, orphaned, the homeless, foster children, the developmentally disabled,etc. In this, its 175th Anniversary year, ESS’ innovative, specialized programs continue to evolve in response to community needs.

ESS Programs

Programs for Children and Youth

Comprehensive Foster Care and Adoption
ESS’ goal is to move children into safe, permanent living situations as soon as possible. ESS also op-erates two group homes for foster adolescents, and foster children are also offered age-appropriate

Independent Living Skills training and college preparation courses and activities.

Medical and Mental Health Program for Foster Children
ESS’ Medical Clinics provide a comprehensive, high-quality range of pediatric medicine, child psychiatry, child psychology and dental services for all foster children in their care.

Early Intervention and Early Head Start
ESS’ Early Intervention program provides evaluations, screenings, and service coordination to children up to three years of age, who have been diagnosed with a developmental delay or condition affecting development. Early Head Start serves very-low-income expectant families and children up to three years of age, providing pre-natal education and a variety of learning experiences to foster.

After-School Program
ESS’ After-School Program, serves some 1,000 high-risk students with the goal of improving their academic achievement and providing rich opportunities for their social development. Programs are currently offered in the Bronx. Expansion of this program is underway, with additional sites in the Bronx and Brooklyn planned.

Programs for Adults and Families

Family Preservation Program
The goal of ESS’ Family Preservation Program is to avert foster care placement for 250-300 children and teens by addressing household risk factors before child abuse or neglect occurs. ESS has a 97% success rate in keeping families in the program safely together.

Intensive Prevention Program
Building on its experience in Family Preservation, ESS has launched a new and innovative program directed at deeply-troubled adolescents whose behavioral disorders prevent their families from maintaining stability and a healthy relational dynamic. This short-term, intensive in-home therapy helps keep families together and children out of trouble.

Community Residences for Developmentally Disabled Adults
ESS operates five community residences for 52 mentally retarded adults; three of these homes are in the Bronx, and two are in Manhattan. Each residence provides a structured, supportive home for 10-12 adults in which they live as independently as possible, assisted by counselors and other specialists.

The Network in the Prisons Program creates therapeutic residential units in seven New York State medium and maximum-security facilities to help inmates develop a sense of self-esteem and purpose, and to prepare for their eventual release. Network in the Community provides re-entry support to formerly incarcerated men and women during the difficult period of reintegration into society.

History:
Episcopal Social Services (ESS) is one of the oldest continually-operating social service agencies in New York City. Now celebrating its 175th Anniversary Year, ESS looks back proudly on a long heritage of helping the less fortunate, and has its sights set on continuing its mission far into the future.

The story began back in 1831, realizing what an impediment this was for the working class, a group of clergy and prominent citizens founded the New York Protestant Episcopal City Mission Society in the Diocese of New York (EMS).

During the 1920s and 30s, the Society found itself responding to a new set of social problems as a result of the Great Depression and Crash of 1929. Many simply needed a helping hand until they could get back on their feet. In the years following World War II, the Society’s programs again evolved to meet the needs of its client communities. Convalescent care and several summer camps in the country for city kids were well-received, popular programs. Prison and hospital chaplaincy, guidance for wayward youth, family counseling, and assistance to detained immigrants on Ellis Island were among the other ministries undertaken by the Society.

Today Episcopal Social Services continues to discern what duties it is called to fulfill in a world whose needs are constantly in flux. ESS is a major agent for change in the lives of the disadvantaged. Under the leadership of Executive Director Robert H. Gutheil, the implementation of a five-year Strategic Plan is helping to optimize the ways in which ESS’ resources are used for the betterment of those in need of help.

For more information on ESS’ programs and services is available at www.essnyc.org.

Contact person: Andrea Erdman, Director Of Volunteer Services, (646) 839-6351, (email)
Office fax number: (212) 989-1132

Address:

305 Seventh Avenue New York, NY 10001 (See a map)

Directions:

Nearest Metro/Subway Stop: 1-9 train, 28th Street or R train, 28th Street,   Walk distance (in minutes): 1   Nearest Bus Stop: Uptown M20 bus on 8th Ave. to 28th Street, or Downtown M20 bus on 7th Ave. to 28th Street, 1-5 minute walk