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New York City

Improving Health Stability for New Yorkers with Complex Health and Social Needs

Helmsley invests in approaches that improve health stability for New York City’s populations who are most critically underserved—New Yorkers living with both physical or behavioral health conditions, and social needs such as homelessness. We support efforts that advance healthcare delivery and access for these high-needs patients, acknowledging compounding root causes such as adverse childhood experiences, the impacts of health and racial inequity, and intergenerational poverty.

We work closely with partners in all five boroughs, from nonprofits to local government agencies to community leaders to impact change.

Rooted in a commitment to systems change, our grantmaking is geared towards innovation and lifting roadblocks standing between vulnerable people and the path to a healthier life.

Pillars

Housing for Health

Housing for Health

Access to quality healthcare is hindered by issues like housing instability, food insecurity and acute mental health conditions. We confront this challenge with a sharp focus on access to stable housing, a critical foundation that enables New Yorkers to receive the care and support that they need. We champion health-supported housing and other efforts that offer patient-centered, holistic, and quality care.

We create and fund coalitions that bring experts, policymakers, and practitioners together to collaborate on short-term and long-term solutions for complicated, systems-wide challenges that take years to solve. Our approach spans from planning and piloting innovative ideas, to scaling models that have shown promise, to improving the systems designed to handle care delivery.

We have created and funded three collaboratives bringing stakeholders together to change what no one entity could do alone:  the New York City Food Assistance Collaborative (2015) to transform the emergency food system, the Collaborative for Homeless Healthcare (2019) to improve access to quality care for New Yorkers experiencing homelessness, and in 2024, the Collaborative on Housing for Health to increase the access, scalability and sustainability of successful housing for health efforts in NYC.

Strengthening Behavioral Healthcare

Strengthening Behavioral Healthcare

We support greater access to behavioral health services in under-resourced areas, as well as training and education to better integrate mental healthcare into social services and other care settings for New Yorkers with complex health and social needs.

Increasing Access to Green Space for Health

Increasing Access to Green Space for Health

We take a holistic approach in cultivating an ecosystem of supports that improve health stability, and we recognize the physical and mental health benefits of green spaces. We support organizations focused on enhancing and creating more accessible, health-activated green space in underserved areas across the five boroughs.

Recent Grants

City Parks Foundation, Inc

Amount: $ 300,890.00
Term of Grant: 24 Months
Date of Award: 09.10.2024

City Futures, Inc

Amount: $ 300,000.00
Term of Grant: 24 Months
Date of Award: 09.10.2024

City Parks Foundation, Inc

Amount: $ 654,695.00
Term of Grant: 24 Months
Date of Award: 08.27.2024

Natural Areas Conservancy, Inc

Amount: $ 400,000.00
Term of Grant: 24 Months
Date of Award: 08.27.2024

Institute for Community Living, Inc

Amount: $ 300,000.00
Term of Grant: 36 Months
Date of Award: 06.05.2024

Our Team

Gina Agiostratidou

Gina Agiostratidou

Program Director

Tracy Perrizo

Tracy Perrizo

Program Officer

Emilie Fidock

Emilie Fidock

Associate Program Officer

Marci Gelb

Marci Gelb

Administrative Assistant (also Information Technology)