Blog & News

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Small Mental Health Clubhouses Celebrate Survival and Thank City Council  

“It’s a home away from home.”   “I love my Clubhouse.”   “You ask what my Clubhouse has done for me? I answer: What hasn’t it done for me?”   As mental health clubhouse members and staff gathered at our Bernie Wohl Center to celebrate surviving a turbulent year, one member after another stepped to the microphone to […]

Why are Housing Costs So High? Our Book Prize Winner Points to Bad Zoning Laws 

Zoning laws are exacerbating the housing crisis and segregating our neighborhoods. That’s the message author Richard Kahlenberg drove home in our recent Book Chat about Excluded: How Snob Zoning, NIMBYism, and Class Bias Build the Walls We Don’t See, the winner of last year’s Goddard Riverside Stephan Russo Book Prize for Social Justice.  Zoning, which […]

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Bash Celebrates Investments in Community, Honors Social Justice Books

Rod Jones, Angela Henry and Stephan Russo See photos from the Bash on our Facebook page! (You don’t need an account.) Supporters and guests flocked to our annual Bash to celebrate another year of work in the community—and to find out who won our social justice book prizes.  Soft lights glowed overhead at our new […]

A young woman displays a scholarship certificate while standing in front of a Goddard/Isaacs Center backdrop

Scholarships Help Bring College Dreams to Life

Getting into college can be a challenge —and for low-income students of color and first-generation students it’s even harder. A recent study by the Pew Research Center found only 20 percent of first-generation students completed college, compared to 82 percent of those who had two parents with bachelors degrees. This summer, as they have for […]

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Are Schools Ready for Students?

Youth-Led Research Finds Room for Improvement  We often hear alarming talk about students not being ready for college. But are colleges and schools ready for students—that is, all the different kinds of students who seek them out?  That’s the subject of a new youth-led study released by #DegreesNYC, and their findings are sobering.  “We’re living […]

Story Workshop Captures Older Adult Memories 

“I’ll never forget Mrs. Heller. Because I lived far from school. And I had to walk a long distance. And a lot of it was uphill. And I was a little girl.”  That’s how one story started at “Tell Us Your Stories,” an event at our  Columbus Avenue Older Adults Center in June.  With the […]

Six people pose for a photo in front of a Goddard Riverside Good Neighbor Awards backdrop

Good Neighbor Awards Honor Volunteers who Make our Communities Stronger

Fighting homelessness, advocating for students with special needs, feeding the community, and empowering women around the world: these are just some of the contributions of the five longtime local volunteers honored with Goddard’s Good Neighbor Awards this year. In addition, State Assembly Member Danny O’Donnell, who is retiring from the legislature, received a Community Champion […]

2024 Nonprofit Trailblazers logo over a head shot of Roderick L Jones

Goddard President Roderick L. Jones Honored as “Trailblazer”

Here at Goddard Riverside, we’ve always seen our president, Roderick L. Jones, as a trailblazer. But it was gratifying to see him recognized by City and State Magazine, which recently named Jones as one of its Nonprofit Trailblazers for 2024.  Jones grew up in the Cypress Hill projects in East New York. He went to […]

Upper West side’s Got Talent Show. Join us for memorable performances filled with passion and moxie by the finalists of the Upper West Side Talent Contest! June 8th at 7pm. Tickets for $20.

Future Stars Come out to Shine at Upper West Side’s Got Talent

Get tickets for Upper West Side’s Got Talent here They may not be famous—yet—but the performers battling for the grand prize at our upcoming show definitely have star power. From a singer who’s appeared throughout the tri-state area, including at the legendary Apollo Theater, to a young dance troupe with multiple TODAY Show performances, these […]

A headshot of a woman alongside a photo of her receiving an award on a stage with a bright purple background

Arts Manager Honored for Going Above and Beyond 

Since becoming the manager of our Community Arts program in 2022, Manon Manavit has put her own stamp on it—adding new performers and events and using the arts to take a fresh look at the challenges faced by our community.   She booked a group called Theatre of the Oppressed to do an interactive performance […]