About BCHS

Brooklyn Community Housing and Services, Inc. (BCHS) is committed to ending homelessness in Brooklyn and empowering all the residents of Fort Greene and the surrounding neighborhoods - our home community. We provide safe, clean supportive housing each year for nearly 700 women, children and men who had been homeless, and help them learn how to live productively and independently, with dignity, and with hope. BCHS has helped thousands who were in crisis achieve independence during the last 28 years and we are ready to help thousands more in the future, until the day that homelessness no longer exists, and until the day that our local communities are as socially rich and as economically vital as possible.

BCHS was founded in 1979 by area clergy, in response to the Carter Administration’s call for the creation of community-based programs for the mentally ill, and immediately established one of the first Scattered-Site apartment programs for mentally ill adults in New York State. In 1991, BCHS opened Brooklyn Gardens for mothers with children, adults with psychiatric histories, and low-income adults—this was the first housing program in the nation to serve such a blended population in this way. In 1993 Brooklyn Gardens was given the FannieMae Foundation Maxwell Award for Excellence in low-income housing development and in 1996 the agency was honored by the New York State Homeless Housing Assistance Program for “outstanding contributions” in innovative housing for the homeless. Also in 1996, the agency established Working Community, a comprehensive vocational training program for all residents, and in 1998 began Bridge to Home, providing short term rental assistance to homeless adults. In 2004, Arbor Inn, the short-term housing program for mothers with children in Brooklyn Gardens, was the 3rd highest ranked program in the City by the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), out of 134 such programs.

Scattered-Site Apartment Programs: The Transitional Apartment Program places 63 formerly homeless individuals with serious and persistent mental illnesses in private apartments throughout Brooklyn for up to 36 months, while the Supported Apartment Program places 72 individuals into long-term and permanent apartments. BCHS provides clients the intensive support they need to live independently through a rich continuum of services, such as on-going case management, daily living skills training, substance abuse counseling, and mental health care.

Brooklyn Gardens: Brooklyn Gardens provides short-term, transitional, and permanent housing for 180 formerly homeless New Yorkers. Because each building opens into a common courtyard with benches, chess tables, and gardens, the physical space encourages social interaction, and allows residents to develop a real community. There are three programs within this facility: Oak Hall is a Single Room Occupancy (SRO) facility serving 74 low-income men and women who have been homeless or are at high risk of homelessness, the majority of whom have a chronic mental illness and/or a history of substance abuse; Ivy House is a certified community residence for 18 formerly homeless men and women with psychiatric disorders requiring intensive supervision and care; and Arbor Inn is a shelter for 44 homeless mothers, each with a child up to the age of 8, equipped with an on-site nursery for infants.

Case management and therapeutic, educational, and recreational services are provided, along with apartment referral, independent living training, parenting skills training, health care, and substance abuse counseling. The duration and intensity of service depends upon the program.

Vocational Assistance: BCHS provides education, job readiness preparation, and job training to all our clients. For local Brooklyn residents, BCHS maintains a computer lab and community education center complete with on-site instructors.