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• Generation of Leaders

Commitment to Serve the Homeless

For three hundred years, Trinity Wall Street has served Lower Manhattan. From launching a charity school that became the New York City public schools in the eighteenth century, to running a mission house on Fulton Street in the twentieth, we have sought to work with our neighbors on the city’s most critical needs.

Trinity’s commitment to the homeless was spearheaded for twenty years by John Heuss House, a place of refuge and hope that opened its doors in 1988.

In 2009, changes in New York City funding and policy threatened the city’s faith-based homeless programs—including John Heuss House. In December, the City's Department of Homeless Services withdrew Heuss House’s space as of June 30, 2009. The timing of this decision made it impossible to apply for the necessary funding needed to operate Heuss House in an alternate location.

At that time, a group of staff, parishioners and community leaders resolved that the landscape might be changing, but Trinity's commitment to homeless people will not.

Trinity Wall Street identified four paths that represent the parish’s ongoing commitment to serving the homeless of Lower Manhattan.

1. Maintain a visible outreach presence in Lower Manhattan including convening a coalition of faith communities for feeding, sheltering, and providing basic services for homeless persons in our neighborhood.

2. Find new ways to welcome homeless persons into Trinity's common life.

3. Explore how we might extend our commitment to “raise a generation of leaders” through support for the 15,000 children in City shelters.

4. Advocate alongside other faith communities for John Heuss House, faith-based homeless services, and a fair and compassionate homeless policy.

We also know we cannot act alone. In a City where 36,000 people sleep in shelters each night—and 5,000 people sleep on the street—Trinity will identify allies and partners who can help us in how we might serve our neighbors in the future.