The Bowery Mission has served homeless and hungry New Yorkers for over 135 years. The Mission provides meals, shelter, clothing, and medical care to both men and women. Every meal and every night of shelter is an invitation to its residential recovery programs, where lives are transformed from hopelessness to hope.

 

The Bowery Mission has served the poor, homeless and hungry New Yorkers since 1879, in an area that came to define the term “skid row.” Programs for men provide meals, emergency shelter, and residential recovery programs.  As women became the new face of homelessness during the 1990’s, the Bowery Mission adapted their experience in restoring the lives of homeless men to develop programs for women that offer hope and opportunity for a transformed life.

 

Their children’s programs which serve at-risk youth, called Mont Lawn Camp and Mont Lawn City Camp, began in 1894 by giving the children of recent immigrants the chance to escape the tenements in the summer. Today, the children programs are changing the life direction of at-risk youth in New York City.

 

Homelessness is both the problem and the symptom of other problems that can range from financial instability to chronic substance abuse, from unemployment to family trauma, and more. The Bowery Mission addresses homelessness as both the problem and the symptom by meeting basic needs through our compassionate care programs, and operating residential recovery programs that help the homeless to regain sobriety, reconnect with family and faith, pursue educational goals, and prepare for work and independent living.