You might not know their name, but if you live in the Bronx and have ever needed help — with housing, food, a job, childcare, or just a place to go — there’s a real chance BronxWorks was somewhere in the chain of support that reached you. Founded in 1972 and now operating 60 sites across the entire borough, BronxWorks is one of the most comprehensive community service organizations in New York City. This Sunday, we’re profiling the organization and the people who keep it running.

Five Decades, One Mission

BronxWorks was established in 1972 with a straightforward mission: feed, shelter, teach, and support Bronx residents so they can build stronger lives. More than 50 years later, that mission is still the organizing principle — but what it takes to fulfill it has grown enormously.

In 2025, BronxWorks programs served over 534,000 meals to vulnerable residents across the borough. That’s meals — not people, not visits, not bed-nights. Meals. Half a million. That single number gives you a sense of the scale at which this organization operates.

In the same year, BronxWorks helped 559 individuals find permanent housing — a number that represents hundreds of families and individuals who were either unhoused or at imminent risk of losing their home. Its Workforce Development programs placed over 280 adults into permanent jobs. And the Children and Youth Department enrolled over 3,500 children into programs across the borough.

Those aren’t four separate programs. They’re four data points from a single organization running dozens of initiatives simultaneously across 60 Bronx locations, from Mott Haven to Riverdale.

The Full Picture: What BronxWorks Offers

The range of services BronxWorks provides is genuinely hard to overstate. On the housing and homelessness side, the organization runs transitional shelters, supportive housing, and eviction prevention services. On the health side, it provides chronic illness management, health and wellness programming, and connections to care. On the economic side, workforce development, youth employment, job training, and benefits enrollment help Bronx residents build and maintain financial stability.

For families with children, BronxWorks offers a network of education and youth development programs — afterschool, summer programming, and early childhood services. Earlier this spring, BronxWorks opened its third Early Childhood Learning Center at Bronx Point, a new mixed-use development on the Harlem River waterfront in the South Bronx. Bronx Point is also home to the Hip Hop Museum, and having a BronxWorks learning center on its ground floor is exactly the kind of community-rooted design the project was meant to embody.

For older adults, BronxWorks runs senior centers and home care programs. For immigrants navigating an uncertain environment, it offers immigration legal services. And for anyone who just needs to know what they’re entitled to, the Benefits and Other Assistance program helps Bronx residents enroll in Medicaid, SNAP, and other public programs they qualify for but may not know how to access.

Leadership Recognized Across the City

BronxWorks CEO Eileen Torres was recently named to the City & State New York 2026 Nonprofit Trailblazers list — a recognition of leaders who have made exceptional contributions to the nonprofit sector in New York. It’s a well-earned recognition for an organization that has quietly built one of the most effective community service networks in the five boroughs without much of the attention that higher-profile Manhattan nonprofits attract.

Earlier in 2026, BronxWorks Vice President of Homelessness Prevention and Access to Benefits Julie Belizaire-Spitzer was named to City & State‘s 2026 50 Over 50 list — another indicator of the depth of talent the organization has built over five decades of community work.

The Bronx Point Early Childhood Center: A Closer Look

The new Early Childhood Learning Center at Bronx Point, which opened in April 2026, is worth highlighting specifically. Bronx Point — located along the Harlem River waterfront between 149th and 153rd Streets — is one of the most significant new developments in the South Bronx in years: a mix of affordable housing, cultural space, and community amenities. Having BronxWorks operate the early childhood learning center on the ground floor means that families moving into the development have direct access to quality childcare from day one. It’s a model for how community-anchored development should work.

How to Access Services or Get Involved

If you or someone you know needs help, BronxWorks’s administration office is at 60 East Tremont Avenue, Bronx, NY 10453. The main phone number is (646) 393-4000. A full list of programs and locations is at bronxworks.org.

If you want to volunteer or work for BronxWorks, the organization actively recruits — and notes that its staff are “the beating heart” of what they do. Career listings are at bronxworks.org/take-action/work-with-us.

And if the scale of the need in the Bronx feels overwhelming from the outside, organizations like BronxWorks are proof that sustained, unglamorous, borough-rooted work adds up to something real. Half a million meals. 559 people housed. 280 jobs placed. 3,500 kids enrolled. That’s one year’s work. Fifty-four years of it built the Bronx we live in today.

For more on community organizing in the Bronx, see our earlier piece on the Our Bronx coalition and the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment.

What You Need to Know

• BronxWorks has served the Bronx since 1972, operating 60 sites across the borough with services spanning housing, food, employment, childcare, health, legal help, and more.
• In 2025: 534,000+ meals served, 559 people permanently housed, 280 adults placed in jobs, 3,500+ children enrolled in programs.
• A new Early Childhood Learning Center at Bronx Point opened in April 2026 — BronxWorks’s third such center.
• CEO Eileen Torres named to City & State‘s 2026 Nonprofit Trailblazers list.
• Main office: 60 East Tremont Avenue, Bronx, NY 10453 | Phone: (646) 393-4000 | bronxworks.org