Strengths-Based Empowerment

Provides comprehensive, strengths-based support and skill-building services to youth and families impacted by the foster care system and health disparities, with a focus on promoting community living.

Offers mentoring and advocacy services for youth and adults impacted by incarceration, including through the Empower Youth program in partnership with Buffalo Public Schools for justice-involved youth ages 16–21.

Hosts virtual bi-monthly discussions on social justice topics in partnership with local nonprofits to engage the community in advocacy and education.

Runs a client-choice food pantry that allows individuals to select preferred food items, with no one turned away. The pantry is part of a broader suite of reentry services supporting individuals and families affected by incarceration.

Provides pre- and post-release case management, mentoring, and linkages to education, workforce development, and treatment services for justice-involved youth and adults. Programs include Project Blue, in collaboration with the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, and serve over 1,000 individuals annually across six counties in Western New York.

Operates a 120-day transitional residence program and a low-income supportive housing program with ten private rooms for men transitioning from Bissonette House. The organization maintains compliance with PRE Act standards as a DOCCS-approved Community-Based Residential Program and has a clean PREA audit on record.

Uses recurring donations to purchase bus passes for clients to attend appointments, job interviews, or work shifts, supporting reintegration and employment stability.

Provides outpatient medical, dental, mental health, and rehabilitation services—including primary care, pediatrics, internal medicine, psychiatry, neurology, podiatry, dentistry, audiology, ophthalmology, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, and nutrition—to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and the broader community, regardless of ability to pay, across multiple sites in the New York area.

Runs two affiliate schools, Manhattan Star Academy and iHOPE, serving students ages 3–21 with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Runs over 300 programs that provide supportive housing, education, job training, community integration, social enrichment, and mental health services to over 20,000 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities across the lifespan, enabling them to age in place and thrive in their communities.

Offers crisis intervention, behavior support, and respite care services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and co-occurring behavioral health issues, as well as their families during times of crisis.

Provides expanded educational, clinical, and support services to youth and families in their own homes and communities, reaching nearly two-thirds of the youth served, to prevent out-of-home placement and support long-term stability.

Provides outpatient mental health and substance use treatment, including individual, family, and group therapy, psychiatric evaluation and medication management, psychosocial rehabilitation, and crisis support for youth aged 5–26 and their families, delivered in homes, schools, and community settings across 14 counties in New York State.

Provides 24/7 trauma-informed, holistic residential care, life skills training, and emotional support for up to 36 youth at a campus in Albany, NY, through a Qualified Residential Treatment Program (QRTP) that includes clinical therapy, psychiatric care, family engagement, and structured recreational activities to support reintegration into family and community settings.

Delivers no-cost clinical and case management services—including individual and family therapy, group counseling, crisis response, and school coordination—to students from every middle school in Ulster County, with services provided year-round in school, home, or community settings by dedicated therapist-case manager teams.

Engages in advocacy efforts focused on deinstitutionalization and inclusive education for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Provides tools such as a one-click advocacy system to help constituents communicate with legislators.

Runs ongoing public education campaigns to increase community awareness and understanding of people with disabilities, supporting inclusion and reducing stigma.

Provides community-based support services including community habilitation, respite care, and service coordination to approximately 500 individuals through the Family Resource Program and Self-Direction initiatives. Services are strength-based and tailored to individual needs across Tompkins, Cortland, and Tioga counties.