About
Selfhelp Community Services is a New York City not-for-profit that has served vulnerable New Yorkers since 1936. Founded by German emigres to aid refugees fleeing Nazi persecution, Selfhelp has grown into a leading provider of affordable housing, home care, and community-based services for older adults — today reaching more than 25,000 aging New Yorkers annually — while remaining true to its historic role as the "last surviving relative" to victims of Nazi persecution.
Mission
Selfhelp is 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 to leading in applying new methods and technologies to address the changing needs of its community. Selfhelp continues to serve as the "last surviving relative" to its historic constituency, victims of Nazi persecution.
What they do
- Holocaust Survivor Program: Selfhelp describes itself as the largest provider of comprehensive services to Holocaust survivors in North America, with the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany as the program's most significant funder since 1993.
- Home care and home care aide training: home care services trace back to job training programs formed during the 1940s; Selfhelp also expanded its home care expertise to people with HIV/AIDS during the epidemic.
- Affordable housing with services: beginning with its first apartment building in Flushing, Queens in 1964 — which housed 200 Holocaust survivors in New York's first state-aided nonprofit project with on-site social services — Selfhelp's portfolio grew to eleven residences by 2018, with more in development.
- Community-based programs: older adult centers, case management, Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs), adult protective services, community guardianship, and NY Connects.
- Technology innovation: the Virtual Senior Center, launched in 2010 in collaboration with Microsoft and New York City agencies, plus telehealth, sensor technology, and computer learning centers in its residences.
History
Selfhelp for German Refugees was founded on November 10, 1936, by a small group of German emigres supporting immigrants arriving in New York after fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe. The theologian Paul Tillich served as Selfhelp's first president, and figures such as Albert Einstein and Eleanor Roosevelt were associated with its early efforts. After several name changes, the organization became Selfhelp Community Services, Inc. in 1969. Over the decades it expanded from refugee aid into home care, senior centers, affordable housing, and services for Russian-speaking and Chinese-speaking elders, marking its 80th year of service in 2016.
Scale and impact
Selfhelp provides affordable housing, home care, and community-based services to more than 25,000 aging adults throughout New York City and Nassau County each year, drawing on what it describes as a 90-year legacy of caring for Holocaust survivors.
Financials
According to its Form 990 on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, Selfhelp Community Services Inc reported total revenue of $121,869,317 and total expenses of $126,302,213 for the fiscal year ending June 2025, with net assets of $25,576,559.