·         United Jewish Council-Project Liberty. the United Jewish Council of the East Side, Inc. (UJC) operates a full time program to help people with needs related to the World Trade Center 9/1I Disaster. The UJC offers free short term problem solving and long term counseling. Many of the programs are targeted to people who live on the Lower East Side, Grand Street and Chinatown neighborhood area. Professional caseworkers are available to answer any question, help fill out applications for assistance, and refer you to the right resource. New resources and services are still becoming available. For more information, call the UJC at 212-233-6037 and ask for Audrey Ashendorf, CSW or Jeanette Feliciano. You can also e-mail us at Audrey@9-11help.org.

·         Irving and Mary Streit Multi Service Center.  a full time walk in storefront office where anyone can receive information and referral and/or case management assistance for a wide range of social services and needs.  Anyone who needs help with securing affordable housing, immigration/citizenship, access to government benefits (Food Stamps, Medicaid, SSI, public housing), low cost or free prescription medicine, or services for the frail/homebound elderly can call for an appointment or an immediate information and referral. In order to ensure that all residents of the Lower East Side access our services, we offer bi-lingual assistance in Spanish, Yiddish, Chinese, and Russian. 

·         Senior Citizen Centers.  Three senior citizens offer a hot, glatt kosher and nutritious lunch and full complement of daily activities for over 200 seniors and 100 more meals are delivered daily to the homebound elderly.  The three UJC centers are located at the Orenstein Building at 15-17 Bialystoker Place, the Educational Alliance and Lillian Wald Houses.

·         Home Attendant and Licensed Home Care Programs.  As a cost effective alternative to institutionalization, the UJC provides over 600 medically and/or physically disabled low income people with home care services.   As a complement to our home attendant program, the UJC started in 1999 a licensed home care program that provides home health aides and personal care workers for private payers and through certified home health agencies.

·         Housing and Community Development.  The UJC has developed and now manages 170 new units of low, middle, elderly and special needs housing.  The UJC also assists tenants and landlords in  the several thousand tenement apartment buildings through education, mediation and assistance with upgrading. The UJC also helps anyone who needs help with filling out an application for government assisted housing.  These services are available in Spanish and Chinese.

·         Elderly Transportation Services.  The UJC operates a large, fully handicapped accessible 14 seat passenger van. The van helps the elderly with essential trips for medical appointments and travel to recreation sites.  A new program known as the “Senior Shuttle” offers elderly residents a shuttle service along East Broadway and Grand Streets with trips to the Pathmark Supermarket.

·         Community Crime Prevention. The UJC operates a year round community crime prevention program.  The programs include Kidcare, which provides parents, and care givers with a child “passport” that includes a current photograph and vital information on the child.   The program is free to schools or other youth groups that request it.   The UJC also disseminates crime prevention information to senior citizens and families. In the fall of 2001, the UJC launched the only web site devoted to community based crime prevention strategies for New York City residents (www.nyccrimeprevention.org)  

·        Youth Programs.  Once a week, an evening one on one, homework help tutorial program operates through out the school year.  The UJC also operates separate swim and softball programs for boys and girls.

·        Lower East Side Historic Conservancy: works to protect valuable historic buildings and synagogues on the Lower East Side.  The Conservancy organizes tours and educational projects so that the historic importance of the Lower East Side can be accessible and appreciated by everyone. Most recently, the Conservancy, along with the Orchard Street Business Improvement District were successful in their efforts to make eight blocks of the Lower East Side a National Historic District. For more information about the Conservancy, you can go to their web site at: http://www.nycjewishtours.org.  

·        UJC Community Learning Center: to help bridge the digital divide on the Lower East Side, the UJC created an Internet access program located at 15-17 Willett Street.  Anyone can come to the Center and receive free instruction in how to use the Internet, e-mail, how to conduct an information search.  The Center also offers free Internet access for up to one hour per visit. The Center is open 25 hours a week.   The CLC also has a library and books for visually impaired.   The CLC can be reached by calling 1-646-602-0553.

• Community Projects: Four times a year the UJC publishes the Lower East Side Voice, a community newspaper.  The UJC is a co-sponsor of the Lower East Side Street Festival. The Festival is the largest annual community event of the Lower East Side. Several times a year the UJC organizes community charitable giving campaigns. A partnership with the Bialystoker Synagogue brings an annual Chanukah Chagiga and Purim Party to the Lower East Side.  The UJC is a founding member of the Lower Manhattan Health Care Coalition.  The LMHCC is a multi-ethnic initiative that has brought together the main ethnic communities of the lower East Side to work together on affordable and quality health care.  The Lower Manhattan Health Care Coalition is chaired by UJC’s executive director, Joel Kaplan, Esq. The UJC also recently organized the Manhattan Coalition on Mental Health Issues of the Elderly. The Coalition now has over 30 member organizations.

• South Manhattan Development Corporation (SMDC):  SMDC is the economic arm of the UJC.  Its primary activities include running an expanded Lower East Side Festival, employment training, thrift store operations, and a merchants assistance association.  It continues to focus on the development of commercial establishments to keep up with the residential growth and expansion of the Lower East Side.

Hon. Martin Shulman President			Joel Kaplan, Esq. Executive Director
	United Jewish Council of the East Side, Inc. 235 East Broadway New York, N. Y. 10002
Phone: 1–212–233–6037		Fax: 1–212–385–2693