Hudson Guild
Encyclopedia
The Hudson Guild is a community-based social services organization rooted in and primarily focused on the Chelsea
neighborhood of Manhattan
, New York City
. It was founded in 1897 by Dr. John Lovejoy Elliott as a settlement house, with the intention of helping to alleviate the problems of the immigrant community of Chelsea's industrial area. The Guild continues to provide a variety of programs and services, including after-school care, professional counselling and community art
s programs to the neighborhood.
movements, planted the seed for what became the Hudson Guild, organizing the "Hurly Burlies," a social and recreation club for young men in the Chelsea neighborhood. In the next few years, Elliott established numerous clubs and programs for other groups, including young boys and girls, working women, and families. Elliott's disparate programs merged in 1897 to become the Hudson Guild, which provided a platform to organize residents to improve neighborhood living conditions.
Among the Guild's early advocacy successes were lobbying for the New York State Tenement House Act
in 1901, the creation of Chelsea Park, the first recreational space in the area in 1907, and the approval of new, low-cost, city-funded housing in Chelsea in 1938. At the same time, the Guild offered a broad range of direct programming and services to Chelsea residents, opening the first free kindergarten
in New York City in 1897, starting the first Summer Play School in the city in 1917, opening dental, prenatal, and well-baby clinics in 1919-1921, founding the Elliott Neighbors Club for Senior Citizens in 1947, opening one of the city’s first community mental health
clinics in 1948, and the first offerings of English-as-a-Second-Language classes in 1950.
In 1966 the Guild advocated for anti-poverty programs, including Neighborhood Youth Corps, VISTA
and Head Start, and worked with other settlement houses and the city to merge Head Start and daycare in 1993. It founded the Chelsea Community-Supported Agriculture
co-op
in 2000 and in 2005 successfully advocated for affordable housing inclusion in West Chelsea redevelopment plans.
In 2007, the Hudson Guild was among over 530 New York City arts and social service institutions to receive part of a $20 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation, which was made possible through a donation by New York City mayor
Michael Bloomberg
.
to service provision and community building. Hudson Guild has five main program areas: Children and Youth Services, Adult Services, Arts Program, Community Building, and Mental Health. None of these program areas exist separately; they work together to provide participants with creative programming engaging bodies and minds, connecting participants to each other and the Chelsea community.
Hudson Guild’s Children and Youth Services targets at-risk youth living in Chelsea and surrounding neighborhoods. Through participation in the Guild’s programming, children and teens receive academic assistance, learn to make good decisions, and gain exposure to the arts. Hudson Guild works with other organizations and initiatives, such as non-profit Slideluck Potshow
's Slideluck Youth Initiative (SLYI), to help bolster this programming. Hudson Guild’s Adult Services helps older adults live in independence and dignity as contributing members of the community with program activities that promote physical, mental, and emotional fitness. The Guild’s Arts Program operates a theatre and two galleries, helping make Chelsea a vibrant and cohesive community, where diversity and self-expression flourish among all age groups. Through its Community Building Program, Hudson Guild serves a primary role in making the Chelsea neighborhood a place where people come together to help others and themselves through education, skills-building, and joint action. The Guild's Mental Health program provides a range of services to meet the mental health needs of residents of Chelsea and surrounding neighborhoods, including group and individual therapy through a licensed mental health clinic; school-based mental health services to a local elementary school; and programs for at-risk youth.
Chelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...
neighborhood of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. It was founded in 1897 by Dr. John Lovejoy Elliott as a settlement house, with the intention of helping to alleviate the problems of the immigrant community of Chelsea's industrial area. The Guild continues to provide a variety of programs and services, including after-school care, professional counselling and community art
Community art
Community Art could be loosely defined as a way of creating art in which professional artists collaborate more or less intensively with people who don't normally actively engage in the arts. Community arts, also sometimes known as "dialogical art", "community-engaged" or "community-based art,"...
s programs to the neighborhood.
History
In 1895, John Lovejoy Elliott, a young man greatly influenced by the growing settlement house and Ethical CultureEthical Culture
The Ethical movement, also referred to as the Ethical Culture movement or simply Ethical Culture, is an ethical, educational, and religious movement that is usually traced back to Felix Adler...
movements, planted the seed for what became the Hudson Guild, organizing the "Hurly Burlies," a social and recreation club for young men in the Chelsea neighborhood. In the next few years, Elliott established numerous clubs and programs for other groups, including young boys and girls, working women, and families. Elliott's disparate programs merged in 1897 to become the Hudson Guild, which provided a platform to organize residents to improve neighborhood living conditions.
Among the Guild's early advocacy successes were lobbying for the New York State Tenement House Act
New York State Tenement House Act
One of the reforms of the Progressive Era, the New York State Tenement House Act of 1901 was one of the first such laws to ban the construction of dark, poorly ventilated tenement buildings in the state of New York...
in 1901, the creation of Chelsea Park, the first recreational space in the area in 1907, and the approval of new, low-cost, city-funded housing in Chelsea in 1938. At the same time, the Guild offered a broad range of direct programming and services to Chelsea residents, opening the first free kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
in New York City in 1897, starting the first Summer Play School in the city in 1917, opening dental, prenatal, and well-baby clinics in 1919-1921, founding the Elliott Neighbors Club for Senior Citizens in 1947, opening one of the city’s first community mental health
Mental health
Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...
clinics in 1948, and the first offerings of English-as-a-Second-Language classes in 1950.
In 1966 the Guild advocated for anti-poverty programs, including Neighborhood Youth Corps, VISTA
Volunteers in Service to America
VISTA or Volunteers in Service to America is an anti-poverty program created by Lyndon Johnson's Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 as the domestic version of the Peace Corps. Initially, the program increased employment opportunities for conscientious people who felt they could contribute tangibly to...
and Head Start, and worked with other settlement houses and the city to merge Head Start and daycare in 1993. It founded the Chelsea Community-Supported Agriculture
Community-supported agriculture
Community-supported agriculture, a form of an alternative food network, is a socio-economic model of agriculture and food distribution. A CSA consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farming operation where the growers and consumers share the risks and benefits of food...
co-op
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
in 2000 and in 2005 successfully advocated for affordable housing inclusion in West Chelsea redevelopment plans.
In 2007, the Hudson Guild was among over 530 New York City arts and social service institutions to receive part of a $20 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation, which was made possible through a donation by New York City mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
.
Programs
Each year, Hudson Guild provides a service for over 14,000 people. Because of its roots in the settlement house tradition, Hudson Guild takes an integrated, holistic approachHolistic health
Holistic health is a concept in medical practice upholding that all aspects of people's needs, psychological, physical and social should be taken into account and seen as a whole. As defined above, the holistic view on treatment is widely accepted in medicine...
to service provision and community building. Hudson Guild has five main program areas: Children and Youth Services, Adult Services, Arts Program, Community Building, and Mental Health. None of these program areas exist separately; they work together to provide participants with creative programming engaging bodies and minds, connecting participants to each other and the Chelsea community.
Hudson Guild’s Children and Youth Services targets at-risk youth living in Chelsea and surrounding neighborhoods. Through participation in the Guild’s programming, children and teens receive academic assistance, learn to make good decisions, and gain exposure to the arts. Hudson Guild works with other organizations and initiatives, such as non-profit Slideluck Potshow
Slideluck Potshow
Slideluck Potshow is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to building and strengthening community through food and art. Founded by advertising and editorial photographer, , in 2000, the New York City-based organization’s events now take place in about forty cities around the world...
's Slideluck Youth Initiative (SLYI), to help bolster this programming. Hudson Guild’s Adult Services helps older adults live in independence and dignity as contributing members of the community with program activities that promote physical, mental, and emotional fitness. The Guild’s Arts Program operates a theatre and two galleries, helping make Chelsea a vibrant and cohesive community, where diversity and self-expression flourish among all age groups. Through its Community Building Program, Hudson Guild serves a primary role in making the Chelsea neighborhood a place where people come together to help others and themselves through education, skills-building, and joint action. The Guild's Mental Health program provides a range of services to meet the mental health needs of residents of Chelsea and surrounding neighborhoods, including group and individual therapy through a licensed mental health clinic; school-based mental health services to a local elementary school; and programs for at-risk youth.