Skip to content
NYC Quakers

Community Wellness

NYC Quaker community members can access vital services through our partnership with University Settlement.

What it is: NYC Quakers has partnered with University Settlement to provide free health and wellness support to all Quaker meetings and Friends in NYC—both directly to individuals and to strengthen our meetings' care for one another by working with pastoral care committees. The program is guided by the Community Wellness Working Group, with representatives from each monthly meeting.

How to access: Email communitywellness@nycquakers.org with questions. 

How we got here: The Concern for Quaker Living identified a growing need in our community: pastoral care committees were becoming overwhelmed navigating complex social services (public housing, Medicaid, food assistance) alongside their spiritual care responsibilities. After several years of discernment and a competitive selection process, we contracted with University Settlement in 2024 to provide specialized expertise. The Community Wellness working group reported on this work to our community in July of 2025.

Community Wellness Team Fall 2024 1200 800
University Settlement reps and members of the Community Wellness Working Group, Fall 2024. 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.

Year one impact (2024-25):

  • 23 community members received case management or resource support
  • 4 educational workshops on mental health, healthcare access, and end-of-life planning
  • Common needs addressed: mental health resources, healthcare navigation, food insecurity, and benefits enrollment
  • Pastoral care committees focus on spiritual care while members and attenders gain access to professional social work support

Services available:

  • Individual case management for housing, Medicaid, food assistance, and low-cost therapy
  • Health and wellness workshops and newsletters
  • Support for meeting pastoral care and ministry and counsel committees

About University Settlement: Established in 1886 as the first Settlement House in the United States, University Settlement partners with 40,000+ New Yorkers annually in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. For nearly 140 years, they've fought poverty and systemic inequality by building effective social services in collaboration with their neighbors—meeting people where they live, listening deeply, and creating space for responsive cooperation.

What Do You Need? Please Take the Community Wellness Survey

November 2025 Update: As we begin the second year of our Community Wellness Program with University Settlement, we want to understand how we can best support the community. To help us with this process, please take our survey! The survey should take about 3-4 minutes, and the responses will be used to help shape our programming for the coming year. If you have any ideas or suggestions for the Community Wellness Program please reach out to Jess Hobbs Pifer at jess@nycquakers.org.