Spence’s senior class awarded the 2018 grant from the Sloan Lindemann ’85 and Roger Barnett Philanthropy Fund to Henry Street Settlement’s Domestic Violence Survivors Shelter.

 

The students investigated a host of potential recipients for the $2,500 in endowment funds during senior seminar this spring.

 

“Out of the list of 33 grant proposals, there were a lot of really great organizations, but Henry Street stood out to us,” Isabella F. ’18 said in the Upper School Gathering.

 

Four seniors presented on Henry Street at the assembly, explaining why the class was drawn to the organization, as well as its services and history. Henry Street Settlement, which is celebrating its 125th year, provides a wide range of services to about 50,000 New Yorkers each year. Lillian Wald founded the organization in 1893 to care for the poor in the Lower East Side with a focus on health care. Today, Henry Street has 17 locations and seven divisions: Youth Services, Primary and Behavioral Health, Senior Services, Workforce Development Center, Visual and Performing Arts/Abrons Arts Center, Youth and Workforce Development and Housekeeping Services.

 

Spence’s grant will go specifically to the Domestic Violence Survivors Shelter and its 26 families, including 60 children. The funds will help families get back on their feet, with shelter, education, after-school support and employment, all while taking careful consideration to the individuals’ backgrounds, culture, strengths, goals and needs.

 

Jeremy Reiss, deputy development officer, public policy and external relations, and Geniria Armstrong, deputy program officer of transitional and supportive housing, thanked the seniors for the “Giving Back and Making a Difference” grant.

 

“We are founded by a young woman named Lillian Wald in 1893, and we’ve been led by young women for many years,” Reiss said. “… The funding you’re providing is not only going to our domestic violence shelters—it’s going to work for kids in our domestic violence shelters, which is frankly one of the most important things we do.”

 

Armstrong talked about how many of the families who come to Henry Street often arrive with nothing, having had to leave their homes with whatever they had on their backs. Henry Street welcomes them with care packages, food and clothing, and during their stay—usually around six months—employees and volunteers work to put clients on the road to success.

 

“This is more than a check to us; it really is support toward our No. 1 goal, which is empowering people to move forward,” Armstrong said.