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About Encore

Message from Executive Director

Dear Friends,

Thanks to you, Encore Community Services has remained strong and resilient throughout the pandemic. Our staff, donors, volunteers, community and corporate partners have made it possible for Encore to rise to meet the ever growing needs of aging New Yorkers head-on. 

With your help, Encore gives back to thousands of aging individuals and remained a lifeline by providing:

Nutrition – Over half a million meals were delivered/served and seniors received additional groceries and essential supplies, free of charge from our Emergency Pantry (100% privately funded); 

Financial Wellness – Encore invested in a Financial Navigator to help seniors with budgeting, debt reduction, bill paying and money management (100% privately funded);  

Social Engagement – Encore provided over 800 virtual programs and activities, with an emphasis on the arts and life-long learning, to keep seniors connected to creativity and community.   

The pandemic has exposed just how dire the situation is for older New Yorkers, bringing food insecurity to the forefront. This is why Encore was called upon by the City to deliver 1.2M emergency “Recovery Meals,” in addition to our traditional Home Delivered Meals program. 

And yet, Encore is still only scratching the surface of need. Of the 1.73M older New Yorkers  in NYC, up to 25% identify as food insecure and 40% live alone. Close to 10,000 of these individuals live in Encore’s key service areas. Encore must do more to meet these needs. 

Encore recently embarked on a strategic journey, which has culminated in our Encore for Life Plan. Seniors deserve to be well nourished, financially secure and connected to creativity and community. Over the next five years, we intend to double the amount of meals we provide and grow our Successful Aging, Financial and Community Wellness programs, so seniors have not just what they need to survive but to thrive.

We hope you will join us on this journey to give seniors an Encore for Life. 

Warmest regards,

Jeremy Kaplan

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.