Mission
FACES NY is a diverse nonprofit organization which originated in Harlem and was established to assist people of color affected and infected with HIV/AIDS. FACES NY employs a client-centered, community focused approach to provide education, outreach, advocacy, supportive housing and direct services. FACES NY seeks to improve and extend the quality of life for people that it serves by encouraging self-determination.
FACES NY began its work in 1985 as the Minority Task Force on AIDS (MTFA) and incorporated as a non-profit in 1989. Staffed by volunteers working from a one-bedroom apartment on St. Nicholas Avenue in Harlem, MTFA started its journey and commitment to serve communities hardest hit by HIV/AIDS. After more than a decade of service MTFA changed its name to Forging Ahead for Community Empowerment and Support (FACES NY). Today, as FACES NY, we continue to honor our tradition while expanding our services to include other vulnerable populations. We operate from four locations in Harlem and Washington Heights; respectfully ensuring that the approximately 1,800 individuals and families who seek our services annually, are given the care and support necessary for them to achieve and maintain a healthy quality of life to become productive members of our community.
Firmly rooted in New York City’s African American, Caribbean and Latino neighborhoods, FACES NY provides a community-based, person-centered approach to service in which we focus all our programs around the support, development and empowerment of individuals and families. Built on evidence based practices, our work provides a system of support that provides a stable and healthy living environment, appropriate treatment and care, and a connection to community, family and loved ones. This ultimately leads to a stable and productive life with family and community. Our professional staff, well trained in various evidence-based interventions and practices, mirror the cultural and ethnic diversity of the people we serve. Likewise, our Board of Directors while being culturally diverse, also represents a variety of professional disciplines and its members are actively involved in the life of the communities we serve.
FACES NY continues to keep pace with the rapidly changing social, economic and political climates as we advocate for services for the most vulnerable in our communities. We strive for excellence in all that we do as we continue to make a difference in the lives of each individual and family we serve. We strengthen our communities and neighborhoods when we invest in our most important resource: our people.
In the words of the former First Lady of the United States,
"I believe that each of us - no matter what our age or background or walk of life - each of us has something to contribute to the life of this nation." - Michelle Obama