VOA is to be one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive nonprofit human services organizations, with 54 affiliates in 300 cities across the country. As an affiliated nonprofit agency of VOA, Volunteers of America - Greater New York, Inc. (VOA-GNY) is is dedicated to restoring hope, dignity and self-reliance to individuals and families in need.

Founded in New York City more than 100 years ago, VOA-GNY provides help to those in need while creating opportunities for people to serve others. They currently operate over 80 in the metropolitan New York area, Northern New Jersey and Connecticut. Services range from transitional shelters for families and individuals who are homeless to schools for children with developmental delays; from group homes for youth to in-home services for older adults trying to avoid institutionalization.

Bronx Early Learning Center

Programs for preschoolers with developmental delays in the Bronx are in very high demand. Many of the children come to the center unable to speak or walk, capable of performing very few activities typical for children their age. Two-thirds of the 260 children attending the Bronx Early Learning Center have developmental delays associated with autism, Down syndrome, attention deficit disorder and neurological and emotional issues, some associated with lead poisoning and fetal alcohol syndrome.

The existing Bronx school was in a leased building that was overcrowded. In 2006, CBO Financial created the financing plan to relocate the school into a building owned by VOA-GNY to house an expanded program in better-suited, customized facilities. CBO secured $15 million in NMTC allocation and senior financing for the new campus, which is located in a severely distressed area with a 50% poverty rate.

The Bronx Early Learning Center in its new home now prepares hundreds of preschoolers for success in kindergarten while helping to revitalize a blighted community. After graduating from the program, children leave transformed. Not just walking, but running; not just talking, but interacting in meaningful ways; and not just feeding themselves and putting on their own coats, but helping other children with theirs.

Liberty House

Volunteers of America offers a safe refuge for families and individuals recovering from domestic violence. In 2008, VOA-GNY approachedCBO once again for project financing help, which resulted in $8 million in NMTC allocations and senior financing to fund the construction of a new domestic violence shelter in New York City. The 63-bed shelter, located in an extensively renovated circa-1920s building in Harlem, offers medical and mental health services, crisis intervention, job and housing assistance, and legal advocacy.

The children benefit from interventions appropriate for their age and specific situations. Both children and adults are taught the skills they need to recognize, avoid and respond to violence.