Organization Details:

Selfhelp is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to maintaining the independence and dignity of seniors and at-risk populations through a spectrum of housing, home health care, and social services and will lead in applying new methods and technologies to address changing needs of its community. Selfhelp will continue to serve as the “last surviving relative” to its historic constituency, victims of Nazi persecution.

Description and/or History:
Selfhelp’s legacy of service began in 1936, when a small group of émigrés from Central Europe gathered in a one-room apartment in New York City to discuss the rapidly deteriorating political situation in Germany and ways they could help their fellow Jews not only to escape to safety but also to rebuild their lives in America. As the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust brought unimaginable tragedy to the European Jewish community, the organization that sprang from this meeting was there to receive and embrace survivors in America – offering job training, housing, home care, social services, and myriad other forms of support.

Today, Selfhelp is the largest provider of services to Nazi victims in North America, and it has grown into a robust organization that serves more than 20,000 elderly and poor New Yorkers from diverse ethnic backgrounds through its 23 community-based sites in Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens, and Nassau Counties. Its broad range of programs include: • Three case management programs; • Six senior centers serving 6,000 members; • Six senior apartment complexes with 1,000 residents; • Home care, including home health care, skilled nursing, chore assistance, housekeeping, and emergency home care; • A legal resources program which works to secure benefits for low-income clients; • Money management and emergency cash assistance; • Two Community Guardianship programs; and • Specialized technologies for the elderly.

Contact person: Stuart Kaplan, Chief Executive Officer, (212) 971-7723, (email)

Address:

520 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018 (See a map)

Directions:

Selfhelp is located at 520 Eighth Avenue, between 36th and 37th Streets. We are close to the A, C, E, 1, 2, and 3 subway lines.   Nearest Metro/Subway Stop: A, C, E at 34th Street,   Walk distance (in minutes): 2   Nearest Bus Stop: M10, M16, M20, 1 minute walk