Our Story

SVS was founded in 1869 as a home for young working boys. Originally called St. Vincent's Home of the City of Brooklyn for the Care and Instruction of Poor and Friendless Boys, it quickly became known as "the Newsboys' Home." Its original location was 10 Vine Street, a building very near the Brooklyn waterfront.

At that time, there were multitudes of children in New York City who either had no family or whose families were too poor to care for them. In addition, there were large numbers of immigrant children arriving at Ellis Island whose families ended up in similar straits, rendering them homeless and obliged to fend for themselves. These destitute children found work, sustenance, and shelter wherever they could; however, working conditions were terrible, and many of the children were forced to sleep outside on rooftops, in abandoned lots, or on the stoops of buildings.

It was at this time that a number of religious groups stepped in, thus becoming pioneers in the field of providing "childcare" to those in need. In 1865 the Reverend Francis J. Freel, a member of the Brooklyn St. Vincent de Paul Society, proposed a project "to provide shelter for homeless boys who slept out of doors without benefit of education or religion."

Bishop Laughlin and others in the clergy heartily supported this effort, and the St. Vincent's Home opened on November 4, 1869, with 20 boys. The Society bore the financial burden for running the Home. Boys were not turned away if they couldn't pay. In its early days, St. Vincent's, the first Catholic working-boys' "home" in America, provided housing for boys from 7-16 years of age.

Early on, the founding Board of Directors formed separate committees to deal with building repairs and how to raise money two issues that continue to be important for the well-being of SVS today.

By the end of the 1800s, it became apparent that St. Vincent's would need to find larger accommodations in order to house its growing population of young boys. After several attempts to find an existing space that would be suitable proved unsuccessful, the Board determined that purchasing land and building a new home on it was the most prudent course. In 1904 a plot of land at the corner of Boerum Place and State Street in downtown Brooklyn was purchased from a retired carriage maker, and a six-story building was erected. In June 1906 the new building was dedicated.

By 1915 the average number of boys living in the Home was 170. With its increased space, the Home started to accept younger boys who did not work. The Dominican Sisters who now lived at St. Vincent's cared for the boys; for the next 65 years (until 1971) they took care of the boys' domestic arrangements, provided them with education and instruction in life skills, and worked to make the Home a welcoming environment. The number of boys continued to increase; by 1921, the average number living in the Home was 250.

As the country sank into the Depression in the 1930s, it was determined that because so many of the boys could not find work, those over 18 could remain in the Home free of charge. During the World War II years, the boys started attending local schools in the surrounding Brooklyn neighborhood as it was felt that attending school with others from the community would help them to become better adjusted to society.

In the 1950s, a majority of the boys at St. Vincent's attended school, as opposed to working full-time. The mid-century years also saw a considerable increase in the professional staff at the Home. Onsite staff now included a bandmaster, athletic coaches, arts and crafts teachers, and dance instructors, as well as educators and tutors. Sports activities abounded; at one point St. Vincent's hosted three football, five basketball, and four ping pong teams, along with intramural hockey, softball, dodgeball, and volleyball. Group recreational activities included scouts, theater and opera parties, and boat rides, as well as monthly dances.

The 1960s saw a move toward more individualized and personalized services for the boys in St. Vincent's care. In 1965 the agency opened its first group home in Springfield Gardens, Queens, followed by a second one in Bayside and a third in Corona in 1967. Also in 1967 a program was designed to accept foster children-even though at its inception there were no foster parents as such in the community. A vigorous effort to recruit and license potential families was begun. The effort proved highly successful; within a few months a number of foster homes were licensed, some of which would go on to permanently adopt the child or children placed with them. Over the years, the support of a vital and active Foster Parent Association served to facilitate the goal of permanency for our children, whether a return to the child's natural family or an adoption. In 1967 a licensed Guidance Clinic was established to offer psychological support for the boys at St. Vincent's; in 1977 this facility expanded to become our Outpatient Mental Health Clinic.

In March 1968 the Reverend Robert M. Harris was appointed the Director of St. Vincent's. (Father Harris would become Monsignor Harris in 1984.) As a former assistant director of the Catholic Youth Organization of the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens, he had the opportunity to see what motivated young people and inspired them to learn and grow. His diverse educational background included an undergraduate degree in philosophy along with graduate degrees in religious education, social work, and the philosophy of sociology. This broad exposure to different modes of thinking made Father Harris well suited to take the helm of an agency in transition and to bring many different viewpoints and methodologies to bear in addressing the challenges faced by young people in our increasingly complex society. Some of the questions asked by Father Harris upon coming to St. Vincent's were: What services does this population of young people need? What types of educational support will help our children achieve academic success? How can we best meet the psychosocial needs of the children who now seek our services? How should mental health services be provided in order to best help young people deal with the issues to arise from life in the foster system? How can we ensure that every child who comes to St. Vincent's learns the skills needed to achieve self-sufficiency as an adult? During this period, St. Vincent's Guidance Clinic became one of the most important vehicles for addressing the needs of the young boys housed at the agency. The Clinic maintained a full staff of psychiatrists, psychologists, and trained social work and child care professionals who worked as a team to help the boys negotiate the complex system of family, school, and community.

The next several decades saw continued change and growth at St. Vincent's. As new problems became apparent in society, St. Vincent's responded by broadening its services.

The 1975 Willowbrook Consent Decree mandated that Willowbrook's mentally ill and disabled patients be released to their communities for placement. In response, St. Vincent's opened the first of three apartments for some of Willowbrook's developmentally disabled children in 1980.

As the agency shifted toward a focus on foster care for both boys and girls, in 1982 the decision was made to formally close 66 Boerum Place as a home for boys. Each of the boys currently living at the Home was placed with a loving foster family, and the Boerum Place facility was fully renovated so that it could serve as administrative headquarters for the various departments that would be necessary to ensure the smooth functioning of St. Vincent's growing operations. By 1986 St. Vincent's was providing services for over 1,000 boys and girls in foster and group home care along with their families (birth, foster, and adoptive). An Aftercare program offered continued counseling and support for older adolescents (18 and over) who had aged out of foster care but still needed assistance in transitioning to adulthood.

Another extremely pressing social issue in the 1980s was the AIDS epidemic. Because children born with the virus acquired it from parents who were often too sick to care for them, they needed especially skilled foster parents who were capable of dealing with the multiple demands of caring for a medically fragile child. In response to this formidable challenge, St. Vincent's Services established its Positive Caring Services (PCS) program in 1988. The PCS program has expanded over the years to accommodate infants and youth who are dealing with HIV/AIDS and other medically fragile conditions, including Spina Bifida, brittle bone syndrome, cerebral palsy, and autism. The PCS Program has developed specific assistance for our families to increase their ability to cope with the conditions affecting the children in their care. St. Vincent's Medical Treatment Center (which houses the PCS Program) operates a full service pediatric and adolescent clinic with specialties in neurology and pediatric and infectious diseases, providing comprehensive medical care to children and adolescents. The Center also provides training programs for foster and adoptive parents on how to deal with the often-complex medical needs of their children. For example, many caregivers are required to perform specialized treatments such as tube feeding, suctioning, and chest physiotherapy, and must be able to identify subtle changes in their children's health, which could signal the need for more extensive care. Our training services enable parents to perform a majority of these treatments at home, thereby enhancing the health and comfort of their children and allowing them to avoid lengthy and repeat hospitalizations. The PCS program currently oversees the treatment of approximately 73 children who must cope with medically fragile conditions, including 18 who are infected with HIV/AIDS. In the last twenty-one years, PCS has improved the lives of nearly 10,000 children and adolescents, as well as their families and caregivers.

Reflecting our commitment to education for young people as the route toward independence in adulthood, in 1997 SVS launched our signature educational initiative-the American Dream Program-to ensure that when our youth leave us, they do so with marketable skills that will enable them to secure meaningful employment and compete in today's competitive global economy. ADP fulfills this ambitious goal by providing tuition assistance and room and board, as well as support for tutoring, counseling, health care, and other incidental expenses through graduation from an institution of postsecondary learning-even past age 21, when all government aid ceases. Through ADP we provide the types of support needed by our young people-many of whom are facing considerable challenges from life in the foster care system-in order to attain long-term academic accomplishment. Funded entirely through private donations, the ADP ensures that all young people who are accepted into a program of higher education (including college, technology or trade programs, vocational training, etc.) will be able to attend their chosen institution until they graduate. Since our young people overwhelmingly lack the supports and "safety nets" of a child who has grown up in a traditional family structure, it goes without saying that their goals of higher education and self-sufficiency would truly be little more than a dream without this crucial source of support.