About Us
BRC combines client-centered care with a commitment to professional management & organizational responsibility
Mission
Helping people reclaim lives lost: We restore hope and dignity by offering opportunities for health and
self-sufficiency.
Core Values
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Our History
New York City‘s Bowery neighborhood was once a place where people went to hide from their problems, finding refuge in makeshift shelters and flophouses that offered little more than four-foot by six-foot cubicles with chicken wire roofs, dingy mattresses, and a single bare lightbulb.
Most of the men that lived on the Bowery - New York‘s "Skid Row" - were addicted to alcohol and drugs, beset by physical and mental illness, without shelter and without hope. Most, but not all. In 1971, a handful of these Bowery residents began to take control of their lives, and to change them for the better. This small group of men created a self-help day program where sober men could escape despair and support one another. Initially called the "The Social Rehabilitation Club for Public Inebriates," this mutual-aid would eventually grow into the The Bowery Residents‘ Committee (BRC) that we know today.
In 1976, BRC created it’s first residential program, the Sobering-Up Station, a place that offered professional support and community assistance. With this development, BRC began to build its reputation as a center of dignity and self-respect for New Yorkers in crisis.
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Through today, BRC has created programs and facilities designed to serve the most vulnerable New Yorkers, including services like transit outreach, temporary housing, workforce development, long-term housing, and more. As long as there are New Yorkers that need these services, BRC will be here to offer a hand up.