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About Encore

Encore Community Services was founded in 1977, by Sr. Lillian McNamara, Sr. Elizabeth Hasselt and Fr. George Moore to provide food, socialization and support for the elderly of the Hell’s Kitchen and Broadway communities. What started as a single community center in the basement of St. Malachy’s Church has since grown into a multipurpose, nonsectarian agency providing a comprehensive array of programs and services to elderly New Yorkers. Each year Encore provides over 400,000 meals; both on-site, at our senior center and delivered directly to our homebound members.

In addition to providing meals and social services to the elderly, Encore also operates the Encore 49 and Encore West Residences. The Encore 49 Residence provides an SRO-style supportive housing facility for formerly homeless seniors with special needs. In a safe, clean and caring environment, residents are provided with their own units, and a range of mental health services. The Encore West Residence provides 84 independent housing units for the very low-income elderly.

Encore strives to provide a safe and welcoming environment to any senior that may need us, from meals, to social services, to housing; Encore’s philosophy remains the same: “By nurturing, respecting and enabling, Encore hopes to improve the quality of life of older New Yorkers in need, in an approach that emanates from the core of Encore’s commitment: we believe that what we do comes from the heart and the heart is the center of all.”

Mission Statement

The mission of Encore Community Services is to provide care and service to the elderly of the Clinton/Times Square/Midtown communities, and to any elderly person who comes to us; to assist those who are vulnerable and frail, poor and homeless, homebound and lonely, frequently desperate, most often ignored; to help them with their daily needs that they might live as independently as possible, with dignity and decency, in a non-institutional manner, in a safe and caring environment. We believe we are all part of the human family and have an obligation to love one another. By nurturing, respecting and enabling, Encore hopes to improve the quality of an older person’s life, in an approach that emanates from the core of Encore’s commitment: we believe that what we do comes from the heart, and the heart is the center of all.