In the Beginning: Neighbors Helping Neighbors

In the early 1980s, homelessness was on the rise in New York City. Women pushed shopping carts or carried bags loaded with their belongings by day. Men slept on church steps at night. These scenes are sadly familiar to us now, but in the early 1980s they were shocking and new.

The Upper East Side faith and community leaders who founded Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter saw these scenes and knew they needed to act. They believed that homelessness is the responsibility of the entire community.

In 1980 Rev. Hays Rockwell, then the Rector of St. James’ Church, and Bill Smyth, then a staff community worker and St. James’ parishioner, invited local churches, synagogues, and neighborhood organizations to attend weekly meetings to discuss how they could help these homeless New Yorkers. The original coalition included representatives from All Souls Unitarian Church; Christ Church, United Methodist; Church of the Epiphany; Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity; Jan Hus Presbyterian Church; Lenox Hill Neighborhood Association; Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church; St. Ignatius Loyola Church; Temple Emanu-El; Temple Israel; Temple Shaaray Tefila; and Yorkville Civic Council.

Their first step was to offer free meals, initially lunch and later adding dinner. Different churches and synagogues hosted the meals on various days of the week. Many of these meal programs continue to this day. Soon they opened a nightly women’s shelter, housed at Lenox Hill Neighborhood Association and staffed by volunteers from the various coalition partners.

In 1982, members of the coalition formed NCS’s first Board of Directors and incorporated as a nonprofit organization. The founding board included St. James’ parishioners Anne Davidson and Wolcott (“Dick”) Dunham, who remain active board members 40 years later.

“The initial vision for NCS was as a community service organization that would respond to the various needs of the neighborhood,” Anne Davidson, the first Board President, remembered. “It’s different today than we first envisioned. We started with each church and synagogue offering their own meal programs, but it was clear that people needed more than that. We evolved quickly when we realized the next step would be to buy a building and provide housing.”

When the NCS Residence opened a few years later in 1985, NCS was among the pioneers in supportive housing, which pairs affordable housing with comprehensive on-site supportive services. The NCS Residence continues to provide a home to 65 individuals who have a history of homelessness. Most live with mental illness, often accompanied by substance use.

Over the past 40 years, NCS has evolved with the changing needs of the community, offering meal programs; seasonal shelters; transitional housing; vocational and educational programming; Chance for Change, an outpatient substance-use treatment program; and Louis Nine House, supportive housing for young adults.

Today Anne and Dick are both proud of and excited by what NCS has accomplished in the 40 years since they helped launch the coalition.

“I was initially drawn to helping homeless New Yorkers as a commitment to my faith,” Dick explained. “That still plays a big role. And I am just so delighted at what NCS has done, and I am excited to see what NCS does next.”

While NCS’s future hasn’t yet been written, it will undoubtedly include some of the critical components that have been key to NCS’s success since the beginning: creating innovative solutions to complicated issues with dedicated support from our community.

In honor of NCS’s 40th anniversary, we will be sharing stories about our founders, the volunteers, supporters, and staff who make our work possible, and the residents and clients at the center of our mission.

Check back throughout the year as we regularly update the series with new stories from our 40 years here.