Founded in 1919 and rooted in the history and values of the settlement house movement, UNH has helped improve the lives of New Yorkers in need and the communities in which they live for over a century.

Settlement houses have been evolving for more than a century to address the changing needs of marginalized populations, combat poverty and discrimination, and empower communities to use their strengths to improve individual, family, and neighborhood life.

And for almost 100 years, UNH has been proud to support them by helping innovative programs come to life, customizing professional development, and advocating at all levels of government for policies and funding that strengthen our members’ ability to meet the needs of their communities.

Today, our membership comprises one of the largest human service systems in New York City, with 45 settlement houses working at nearly 680 sites to provide services and activities to more than 765,000 New Yorkers each year.

Settlement houses: a history

In 1886, Stanton Coit founded America's first settlement house, the Neighborhood Guild—later renamed University Settlement—on New York City's Lower East Side.

Over the next decade, other civic leaders, including Lillian Wald, John Lovejoy Elliott, and Mary Simkhovitch, established settlement houses in the city, influenced by the English idea that people of means should “settle” in poverty-stricken neighborhoods to improve living conditions and work for social reform.

These early settlements taught adult education and English language classes, provided schooling for immigrants' children, organized job clubs, offered after-school recreation, initiated public health services, and advocated for improved housing for the poor and working classes.

Until the mid-1900s, settlement house staff lived in the same buildings in which neighborhood residents participated in programs and activities. Thus, they came to regard those who made use of settlement houses as "neighbors," not "clients."

Even today, many of New York’s settlement house staff members live in the same neighborhoods as the community members they serve.

That shared sense of community still exists between settlement staff and the people who participate in settlement programs—and will propel the next 100 years of UNH’s mission.