Blog & News

Activists crowd the NYC City Hall steps holding a variety of banners including Goddard Riverside's

Why We Fight for Housing

Ninety-seven hours a week. Two and a half full-time jobs! That’s how much the the average minimum-wage earner in the U.S. would have to work in order to rent a two-bedroom home. Having a decent place to live is essential to realizing your full potential. But housing is simply out of reach for far too many […]

Side-by-side photos of Antonio Cortorreal and Lamiya Rahman, each wearing a shirt from the school they will attend i the fall

“I Want to Create a Path”: Options Scholars Prepare to Shine

There are lots of things that inspire people to become doctors. Lamiya Rahman’s high school lab class is one of the more unusual ones. “I got got a chance to take forensics. We conducted autopsy reports on Barbie dolls!” she says on the phone from her famiily’s home in Jackson Heights.  Rahman also enjoyed anatomy […]

Direct Relief: The Next Front in the Fight against COVID-19

Help vulnerable New Yorkers survive the crisis. Donate to our COVID Relief Fund. When the economy takes a downturn, Wayne Tyre knows. Tyre is the director of our Resource Center, a one-stop shop for assistance with government benefits, health insurance, food aid, legal assistance and more. Since the Coronavirus hit, his phones have been ringing […]

A girl slides headfirst toward the camera on a slip 'n slide at our Lincoln Square Summer Camp

Help Us Save Summer Youth Programs

Steven Portericker remembers his first summer job—which he got at age 14 through New York City’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP). “I felt proud of myself and confident,” he recalls. “It was great to feel like my presence mattered.” Portericker, a senior manager who helps oversee all of Goddard’s youth programs, stayed in SYEP for […]

Young people wearing masks hold boxes of hand sanitizers and masks in front of a NYCHA building

Teaming Up with NYCHA Tenants to Strengthen Public Housing

Cynthia Tibbs had a dilemma. The state had just delivered hand sanitizer and face masks to her office – items which, as president of the Westside Urban Renewal Tenants Association, she knew her neighbors were clamoring for. But her buildings are brownstones and they don’t have elevators. “I have 36 walkup buildings,” she explains. “I […]

Activities, Food, Rent and More⁠—COVID Resources for Families

Juggling work and family is even more challenging when you’re sheltering in place. Here are some free or low-cost resources – including from our own programs – to help families thrive.  Arts and Activities  Goddard Riverside Community Arts – We have online dance and music composition classes for all ages, plus live events! Take a ballet class, join us for Arts Potluck on May […]

Remembering Clare Dockery

Last September, a small group of neighbors gathered in a park on West 97th Street to toast their former neighbor, Clare Dockery. Clare had passed away a year prior in April 2018 at the age of 84. Clare’s friends reminisced about her and her activism. Their stories were peppered with phrases like “That was Clare!” […]

Coronavirus: A Letter from Executive Director Rod Jones

Dear Neighbors,   I am reaching out to you, our neighbors and partners, in this time of uncertainty. Goddard Riverside continues to work every day for a fair and just society, even as the COVID-19 situation escalates. As we have done for more than 160 years, Goddard Riverside is responding to the needs of New Yorkers as best we can and adapting our programs to these changing times.  We are […]

Annie Skaruppa and Team

How a 5-Year-Old Helped Fight Homelessness

Annie Skaruppa is not quite old enough for first grade. But this winter, she decided she was plenty old enough to help her fellow New Yorkers. “We were out on Broadway and she saw teenage girls selling hot chocolate to raise money for charity. She wanted to raise money for charity too,” Annie’s mother Cindy […]

Finding the Artist Within

Huan Xin Huang made his living as a farmer in the Guangdong province of China. But he couldn’t stop thinking about art. “From the time I was very young I was really interested in painting,” he recalled. He didn’t have access to training, so he taught himself oil painting by copying photos. Now, as a […]