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Recent Quarterly Meeting - July 19, 2025 - Materials Available
NYC Quakers

Community Wellness

Members and attenders in our NYC Quaker community can access vital services through our partnership with University Settlement.

Community Wellness Team Fall 2024 1200 800
University Settlement reps and members of the Community Wellness Working Group. Left to right: Ed Elder (Morningside Mtg), Jennifer Vallone (University Settlement), Ted Bongiovanni (Brooklyn Mtg/NYQM), nova sturrup (Brooklyn Mtg/NYQM), Niki Lao (University Settlement), Bing Ji (University Settlement), Charlene Rae (Morningside Mtg), Rosalba Manzul (University Settlement). Oct. 1, 2024, Brooklyn Meeting.

Members of the New York Quarter community, including the Concern for Quaker Living (CQL) working group, Ministry and Counsel Committee, and New York Quarterly Meeting staff members, have noticed issues relating to support rising up in our meetings. There is a need for support that is beyond the capacity of our meetings’ Pastoral Care Committees. Members of our meeting communities could use help accessing NYC services — applying for public housing, getting on Medicaid, applying for EBT/ food stamps, accessing low cost therapy, and more. NYC Quakers could also benefit from educational and personal development programs designed for our community.

To provide that help, New York Quarterly Meeting has contracted with University Settlement, an organization that helps connect people with New York City services and provides programs and workshops on health and wellness. 

University Settlement can get help with housing applications, Medicaid enrollment, food assistance, low-cost therapy options, and more. University Settlement also offers wellness-related workshops for the NYC Quaker community. This resource is available to all of the Quaker meetings in New York City.

The  Community Wellness working group guides this initiative with representatives from each meeting. If you have questions please email communitywellness@nycquakers.org.

The June 2025 Newsletter from University Settlement recaps the recent workshop for NYC Quakers on Understanding Homecare Services in NYC.

Some Quaker-specific resources were shared at the May 2025 End of Life Planning Workshop with David Leven These are great ways to continue the reflection and learning started at the workshop:

  • Advance Planning Drop-In Group – meets every third Thursday at 12PM. A space to ask questions and learn from others. Register here
  • End-of-Life Reflection Group – hosted by New England Yearly Meeting ARCH, open to anyone looking for space to reflect and connect. Learn more here
  • Quaker Values and End-of-Life Decision Making Workbook – a thoughtful tool to help guide advance planning and legacy writing (available as paperback or fillable PDF). Details here
  • A Death Café – currently being developed by the Committee on Aging Concerns for NYYM’s Summer Sessions.
  • Quaker Aging Resources – a collection of downloadable pamphlets on topics related to aging and end-of-life care. Explore here

These resources are offered through ARCH (Aging, Resources, Consultation and Help) and New York Yearly Meeting, and are open to all Friends seeking continued support and community in this work.