A Special Message About Candace

When I first met Candace Bell* in a group session at Chance for Change, she sat quietly, listening as another member shared their story of recovery. Later, she told me how surprised she was to hear someone speak so openly about their struggles. Years of living with substance-use disorder and surviving domestic violence had left her guarded—unwilling to be vulnerable. 

After escaping an unsafe situation, Candace was living in a women’s shelter. A friend invited her to join the group, but she admits she only came to pass the time while waiting for her dorm to reopen. She was exhausted, depressed, and weighed down by shame and fear. 

Candace didn’t believe change was possible. But the group was welcoming, the staff was encouraging, and the coffee was hot…so she kept coming back. At first, she only listened. Slowly, she began to share. In that judgment-free space, Candace began to rediscover hope. 

Candace’s story is why Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter (NCS) exists—and why your support matters so deeply. Your generosity creates the safe, healing spaces where recovery begins.  

Getting her life back on track wasn’t easy. Candace needed stable housing, trauma-informed care, and a community that believed in her. She found all of that at the NCS Residence on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. What began as a place to live became a place to heal. 

With a safe home and wraparound support, Candace began to thrive. She reconnected with her doctors, learned to manage her anxiety and depression, and even found joy again—walking in Central Park, practicing calligraphy, and rediscovering her faith. Today, she’s celebrating more than a year in recovery and preparing to move into her very own apartment, ready for independence with the confidence that NCS will always be part of her foundation. 

This is what your generosity makes possible. Every gift to Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter provides the unique combination of safe housing and compassionate support that transforms lives—from despair to hope and from instability to resilience. 

As the year draws to a close, I invite you to give as generously as you can, so that more neighbors like Candace can find what she found at NCS: a home, a community, and a future filled with possibility. When you give to NCS, you make it possible for someone like Candace to move from homelessness to healing, and from surviving to thriving. Please make your year-end donation now to ensure that everyone who turns to NCS finds a safe place to call home and the support to rebuild their life.