Our Why

At The New York Foundling, we trust in the power and potential of people, and we deliberately invest in proven practices.
The New York Foundling is built on a 150-year-old promise to our neighbors, that all children, adults, and families can have the opportunity to reach their full potential. For all of us, unlocking our potential requires support along the way. The New York Foundling provides carefully designed programs, effective and interrelated services, and opportunities for our community members to create transformational change in their own lives. We believe every one of the 30,000 people we serve each year is capable of making the right choice for their future and that circumstance or zip code should not limit someone’s potential. Through our whole-life and whole-person approach:

• We help children and families navigate through and beyond foster care;
• We help families struggling with conflict and poverty to grow stronger;
• We help people with developmental disabilities live their best lives;
• We help to remove obstacles to wellbeing for people across our community through and our health and mental health services—core to building lifelong resilience.