ANNUAL REPORT FY21
LISTENING
ADAPTING
EVOLVING

Letter from our CEO
50 Years
and Counting

I joined this remarkable organization in the summer of 2021 and have been impressed every day since by the dedication and thoughtfulness of our community of young people, staff, and supporters.
We began the fiscal year with high hopes for changes in society—particularly the emergence of vaccines that would allow us to put the COVID-19 pandemic behind us. Progress turned out to be slower than we all would have liked, forcing us to continue to operate with many pandemic-related precautions in place and keeping us further apart than we had hoped. However, despite this and other challenges, there were also many high points this year fueled by community input, joyful celebration, and profound connection.
When venues all over the world closed their doors, our health center fought to continue providing vital care for young people. Our heroic staff kept seeing patients, providing resources and information, and building a better future, one healthy young person at a time, including offering vaccines as soon as we were able.
When schools shut down, Broome Street Academy quickly shifted to remote learning, ensuring that disruptions to education were minimal. And BSA has worked hard to return to safe in-person instruction as much as possible, prioritizing the environment in which young people learn best.
Our supportive housing sites remained open 24/7; our legal team continued to represent undocumented minors; our arts programs hosted outdoor public performances; our food and nutrition program built a food pantry and provided hot meals; career and education staff continued to connect young people to jobs and internships and distributed technology to those who needed it most; and our clinical staff remained available to support the mental health of young people as they navigated the challenges of this year.
The Door continues to play a vital role in the lives of thousands of NYC youth. This is because of our deep commitment to listening, to adapting, and to evolving, and our phenomenal community of support—people like you. As we look back on all that The Door has accomplished over the past 50 years, since our establishment in 1972, it is impossible not to feel deeply proud. I hope you will join me in ensuring that the next 50 years are just as impactful.
In community,
Kelsey Louie
CEO, The Door
Read More
Close
Our Impact
FY21 Highlights
2,270
free nutritious meals and pantry bags were distributed
2,400+
Young people received free, world-class legal assistance
973
young people were supported by our runaway and homeless youth drop-in team
2,700+
young people received vital, age-appropriate healthcare
298
students were enrolled at Broome Street Academy this year
390+
job and internship opportunities were offered to our members


Listening to Our Members
Adapting to meet our community’s needs
Membership
At The Door, we take great care in welcoming new members to our community—and now young people can become members virtually! We are proud of the innovations we have made over the past two years that make us more accessible.
Text Line
When we can’t be together physically, we need ways to stay connected. The Door’s continuously expanding text line helps to ensure that our knowledgeable staff are never more than a text away.
Vaccines
The Door’s health center is dedicated to supporting the health and wellness of all our members. We are thrilled to be able to offer COVID-19 vaccines to both our staff and the young people who come to us for care.
Benefits Expansion
Ensuring that young people have access to vital documents and public benefits is more important now than ever. Our staff is dedicated to removing barriers to ensure that young people have access to the support they need.
Food Pantry Expansion
Supporting access to healthy food has always been a priority at The Door. Adapting to the needs of our community, we have created food pantries both at our SoHo and Bronx sites and continue to offer hot, delicious meals to go on Broome Street.
Counseling
The Door’s counseling center has seen skyrocketing numbers of young people seeking mental health support along with significantly higher rates of continued engagement with care.





FY21 Program Spotlight
Youth Leadership Program



The Door’s Youth Leadership program has grown and flourished during this challenging time. With social interactions happening mostly online, young people have been able to engage more easily and in more targeted ways by joining workshops, connecting with one another, and designing programming. In 2021, we saw a record number of applicants for the program and the merging of the Adolescent Health Center’s Peer Educators with the agency-wide Youth Council. Together, this combined Youth Leadership program leverages more resources, shares information, and increases their impact.


Fadwa
Youth Leader
“I’m proud of the courage and resiliency I’ve gained through being a Youth Leader. I have a strong conviction that myself and those around me deserve better, and I’ve become more and more unwavering about this as time has passed.”


Farhana
Youth Leader
“I’m proud of being a youth leader, of the fact that I can engage with members at The Door and talk to them as a friend. I can make them feel comfortable and loved. When I do that, they come back. I can make them feel like they belong here. Being a youth leader is not a job to me, I get to make new friends and learn more about The Door and myself.”


Kathy
Youth Leader
“Becoming a youth leader I’ve seen a lot of progress in community engagement through the Listening Project, Hydroponics, and Little Island. I enjoy community partnerships because I’m able to learn what career path I’d like to pursue, and I learn behind the scenes how events are put together.”


Valeria
Youth Leader
“I like that The Door has a bunch of resources, the health center, eyeglasses and that it’s targeted towards the youth. We’re very open about a lot of things, especially mental health, and I feel like The Door embraces us. It has a lot of opportunities to embrace everyone whether you’re interested in Legal, Career Education or other programs.”
Youth Leaders engage in a rigorous onboarding process, exploring topics including group facilitation, activism and social justice, budgeting, and event planning, and are connected to a wide range of personal supports to encourage them as they explore their interests, find and amplify their voices, and broaden their networks. This year’s Youth Leadership cohort has taken ownership over the design of our physical space, advocated tirelessly for themselves and their peers, spearheaded community events, facilitated town halls to increase youth voice and agency responsiveness, designed and led programming, welcomed and connected new members to The Door’s programs and resources, and built strong relationships.







Our Programs
It’s All Here



At The Door, we take pride in meeting young people where they are and adapting to the evolving needs of our community. Our integrated approach is unique and effective, putting our members front and center, right where they belong.



ADOLESCENT HEALTH CENTER


The Door’s on-site Federally Qualified Health Center provides comprehensive care, including primary care, mental health services, reproductive healthcare, vaccinations, and dental and eye care, all combined with health education.
This year, the phenomenal team in the Adolescent Health Center adopted tele-health technology, allowing for secure remote consultations, but also remained available in person for patients. When COVID-19 vaccines became available, they took the lead in promoting and providing them to eligible members of our community. They responded to the increased need for mental health support by enhancing psychiatric services, the community engagement team held virtual programming and events to stay connected to members, and they continued to innovate and adapt in response to patient feedback.
Career & EDUCATION
Supportive Services & Housing
Bronx Youth Center
Legal
Community Engagement
FY21 Program Spotlight
BROOME STREET ACADEMY
Broome Street Academy (BSA) is a unique, tuition-free charter high school located within and operated in collaboration with The Door. BSA educates over 300 students annually through its rigorous academics, integrated opportunities for community connection, and comprehensive wraparound supports provided through our shared services model.


This year, BSA rose to the challenge of educating during a pandemic. Grounded in a strong belief that students deserve to be in school, staff worked tirelessly towards a return to safe in-person instruction, that included ensuring a fully vaccinated staff, adopting a comprehensive communication plan for parents and students, and utilizing online forums that increased caregiver engagement dramatically. But our staff also made school a place students wanted to be. We ramped up both curricular and extracurricular offerings, created a new student government, launched new courses in technology, and increased the number of Advanced Placement classes by 40%.
At BSA, COVID does not dominate the conversation – the focus remains on supporting students and encouraging creativity and academic success. We have seen an increase in the depth of our relationships with students. We are, in fact, more connected now than ever before. We have the muscle and resiliency to tackle this challenge – to both survive and thrive.


BECOME A DONOR
Together, we are changing lives.
The Door’s success lies in our commitment to meeting young people where they are and providing them with the comprehensive and integrated services they need to reach their potential, all for free and in a youth-centered environment.


Our Donors
THANK YOU TO OUR DONORS
When you stand with The Door, you’re standing for a New York City that responds and adapts, and where every young person is empowered to reach their full potential. The Donors listed made gifts to The Door and Broome Street Academy during the 2021 fiscal year: July 1, 2020–June 30, 2021.
PRIVATE FUNDERS
* denotes monthly recurring donors.
GOVERNMENT FUNDERS
- District Attorney of New York County
- The Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City
- New York City Council
- NYC Department of Education
- NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
- NYC Department of Youth and Community Development
- NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation
- NYC Human Resoures Administration
- NYC Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice
- NYS Council on the Arts
- NYS Department of Health
- NYS Department of Labor
- NYS Education Department
- NYS Interest on Lawyer Account
- NYS Office of Court Administration
- NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance
- Office of the Manhattan Borough President
- Public Health Solutions of NYC
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
- US Department of Agriculture
- US Department of Education
- US Department of Health and Human Services
- US Department of the Treasury
- US Federal Emergency Management Assistance
IN-KIND DONORS
- 88 acres
- Aeri
- ArteStar
- Bombas
- City Harvest
- Coach Foundation Inc. (Dream it Real)
- Delivering Good
- Freemans Sporting Club
- French Connection UK
- God’s Love We Deliver
- Keith Haring Foundation
- Norton Rose Fulbright
- Rael
- Room to Grow
- Sommwhere
- Starbucks
- Stonewall Community Foundation
- Stop & Shop
- SustainABLE Start
- The Blue List
- Ujuu Media
MATCHING GIFT COMPANIES
- Goldman, Sachs & Co. Matching Gift Program
- Microsoft
- Morgan Stanley
- Netflix
- Penguin Random House
- United Health Group
- Wells Fargo Philanthropy Fund
FY21 FINANCIAL REPORT IS COMING SOON!


2022 marks The Door’s 50th year. Through enormous social upheaval and change, breathtaking advances, and extraordinary challenges, The Door remains steadfast in its mission to provide comprehensive support for NYC youth.We are so excited to come together this year to celebrate this incredible journey and the phenomenal people who have shared their passions, their time, their resources, and themselves with The Door over the last 50 years. Thank you for being a part of our story.
THE DOOR Board of Directors
Marc. N. DeBevoise
President
Benjamin Felt
Treasurer
Sarah Marie Martin
Officer
Mónica de la Torre
Officer
Maya Browne
Blake Devillier
Hollis Forbes
Court Golumbic
Leslie Gruss
Bethany Menzies
Susan Notkin
David Shapiro
Kelly Stevens
M. David Zurndorfer
BSA BOARD
OF TRUSTEES
M. David Zurndorfer
President
Mónica de la Torre
Vice President
Noah Leff
Treasurer
Herb Elish
Officer
Secretary
Katie Jaxheimer Agarwal
Vanda Belusic-Vollor
Lauren Blum
Stephanie Durden Barfield
Jeffrey Katzin
Fernando Lorence
Marlene Nadel
Joaquin Pichardo
John Quinn
Gail Schargel
Elaine Schott
Sarah Weeks
Alexandra Wood