Blog & News

Wayne Tyre in the middle of two people smiling for the camera, holding a prize

Wayne Tyre, a Goddard Social Services Pioneer, Named to 50 Over 50 List 

Watch News 12’s story about Wayne Tyre and the power of 2-Gen! Even when the Goddard Riverside Resource Center is swirling with clients—say, a mom and baby looking for help getting SNAP benefits, an older adult sitting down with a financial counselor, an injured laborer filing for disability—Wayne E Tyre radiates calm. If you come […]

A smiling woman poses next to the Goddard logo in a white business shirt

Meet our New Board Chair, Marcia Bystryn

“It’s all the things I’ve always cared about, but right in my own backyard.”  Our new board chair at Goddard Riverside and the Isaacs Center has a wealth of experience with city and state issues. Marcia Bystryn says what drew her to get involved here is the chance to make a difference in her neighborhood.   […]

A vibrant collage of words like "community" "donate," "volunteer," "caring"and "support" forming a cloud

Year-End Giving Guide: How to Donate Items

As the weather cools, many people start thinking about the holidays: What am I making for Thanksgiving dinner? What gifts do I get my family? Do I need to get out my warm boots?  Goddard also asks these questions, but on a much larger scale. No matter the season, we keep working with over 20,000 […]

Volunteers chop apples at a long table

Thanksgiving Meal Brings Community Together

On Thanksgiving morning, the dining room at 88th and Columbus was filled with volunteers chopping mountains of carrots and celery, cutting hundreds of slices of bread, and carving dozens of turkeys. “I always love to do this,” said Valery Bratman, who was here for the ninth time. “I think the volunteers that come here, they […]

Four people stand in front of a Goddard backdrop holding small signs reading I Love Goddard, I Love the Isaacs Center, Book Love and New Yorker

A Bash to Remember 

See photos of the Bash here! Watch the Bash video Books about two pressing issues facing New Yorkers claimed the top prizes at our annual Social Justice Never Sleeps Bash as we celebrated another year of investing in people and strengthening community.  A capacity crowd filled Monarch Rooftop, enjoying autumn breezes and a closeup view […]

Covers of Excluded and Food for Hope with logos of the social justice book prizes

“Excluded,” “Food for Hope” win our Social Justice Book Prizes

Books about two pressing issues facing low-income New Yorkers—housing and hunger—have claimed our 2023 book prizes. Food for Hope: How John van Hengel Invented Food Banks for the Hungry by Jeff Gottesfeld [Creston Books] won the Goddard Riverside CBC Youth Book Prize for Social Justice, while Excluded: How Snob Zoning, NIMBYism, and Class Bias Build the […]

Andrea Elliott and Lydia Polgreen converse in chairs in front of a small audience

“Dasani Helped me Solve Every Puzzle”

A chat with Invisible Child author Andrea Elliott Andrea Elliott’s close-up portrait of Dasani Coates, a girl growing up homeless in NYC, sent shock waves through the city when it first landed on the front page of the New York Times in 2013. Incoming Mayor De Blasio invited Dasani to his inauguration and vowed to do better by children like her; outgoing mayor Bloomberg defended his policies but added, “Sometimes some of us are lucky […]