HeartShare's programs for children, families and the developmentally disabled assist more than 17,000 New Yorkers annually.

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About Us: Our History

HeartShare opened its doors in July, 1914 to assist young adults transitioning from orphanages to life on their own. As orphanages began closing in the 1960s, we adapted our services to meet the changing needs of our community by offering foster care services.

In the 1970s, HeartShare opened its first Family Service Center to provide counseling services to families in crisis, and established a Refugee Program for minors from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Cuba.

During that time, we also began assisting people with developmental disabilities. We opened our first Group Home for young men with developmental disabilities in 1977. In 1982, we opened our First Step Early Childhood Program for children aged birth through five. Three years later in 1985, we began offering Respite/Recreation Programs for children and adults, and in 1988, opened our first Adult Day Treatment Center and our first two Supported Apartments.

In the 1990s HeartShare continued opening programs throughout Brooklyn and Queens to add to the services already being offered. In 1993, we initiated our Residential Housing Program and Case Management Services for people with HIV/AIDS. That same year our first Beacon Program opened in Coney Island to offer after-school programming and adult services to the community. In 1995, HeartShare launched its annual partnership with KeySpan (then Brooklyn Union) to administer the Neighborhood Heating Fund which provides energy assistance grants to low-income customers in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island.

As we entered the new century, HeartShare Wellness, Ltd., an affiliated program of HeartShare, opened in downtown Brooklyn to provide health and mental health services to individuals with developmental disabilities. In 2001, we partnered with ConEdison to admister their energy assistance program, EnergyShare. In 2006, Creative Solutions for Families opened in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. This prevention program uses art therapy as an effective treatment to engage and benefit at-risk adolescents and families. The HeartShare School for children ages 5 through 12 with autism and mental retardation opened in Brooklyn in 2007, the first school-age program for HeartShare.

Today, HeartShare offers a complete spectrum of services, extending from early childhood through adulthood. We assist 17,000 individuals annually through more than 60 programs throughout New York City.