AHRC New York City

10/07/2025

By attending MedNights on Thursday, October 16th, you’re not just joining an unforgettable night—you’re making a real difference in the lives of the incredible people AHRC NYC supports.

Your support helps fund AHRC NYC’s residential services by providing safe and empowering homes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

With your help, we can provide essentials like iPads, as well as unforgettable parties, outings, and trips that bring joy to our residents’ lives.

10/03/2025

National Disabilities Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) is our annual recognition of employment equity, the value and talents that people with disabilities bring to all workplaces, and the employers who make inclusivity part of their daily mission. Check out this video from the Department of Labor highlighting this years theme, "Celebrating Value and Talent."

Each October, during National Disability Employment Awareness Month, or “NDEAM,” we recognize the positive impact of people with disabilities in the American...

09/23/2025

We are grateful for a visit from Assemblymember Grace Lee . AHRC NYC's headquarters in the Financial District is located in the assemblymember's district. Assemblymember Lee toured our state-of-the-art clinic, visited with our Advance & Earn program, and learned about many of the services AHRC NYC offers.

AHRC NYC extends its deepest thanks to Assemblymember Lee for her engagement, interest, and support of our programs and families.

09/12/2025

These are the faces of Direct Support at AHRC NYC—women and men of many different backgrounds and origins, all connected by a common belief in a socially just world where the power of difference is embraced, valued, and celebrated. We are so grateful for all of our DSPs, and we continue to strive for full recognition from all facets of society of their contributions to the people and families we support. THANK YOU DSPs!!!

09/11/2025

More than 85% of Direct Support Professionals are women. As this Saturday Evening Post article demonstrates, women have been at the forefront of the caregiving movement in education and beyond since the very beginning. We are grateful for all of their contributions to our field.

At one time, children with disabilities were prevented from attending mainstream schools. In the last hundred years, teachers and parents have worked to change how children with special needs are educated.

09/10/2025

Continuing of our celebration of , today we feature Wanda Brown from Wendy M. Seigel Day Services in Bushwick.

Wanda Brown has been a Community Support Professional at AHRC NYC for 35 years. She was inspired to enter this profession by her two brothers with Down syndrome and the way her parents raised them all together.

“Believe it or not, I really didn’t think anything was wrong with my brothers,” Wanda said. “My parents treated them the same as anyone else. It was amazing to see that they had services for people like my brothers when I came to AHRC."

Wanda enjoys teaching people with disabilities what she describes as “basic everyday living skills. We do simple things like showing them how to brush their teeth. It’s structured. It’s wonderful to teach them those skills.”

In more than three decades of work, Wanda has observed much progress as health outcomes and services have improved for people with disabilities.

“Many of them are so much more independent. I love that they can go out in the community and be more involved now.”

Thanks to Wanda for nearly four decades of exceptional service and commitment.

Visual Description: Wanda Brown smiles as she stands near the entrance to Wendy M. Seigel Day Services in Bushwick.

09/08/2025

It's one of our favorite times of the year: Direct Support Professionals Recognition Week. Our long-form piece focuses on three employees who have spent decades dedicated to improving the lives of the people they support. We appreciate the work of Taryn Harris, Wanda Brown, and Quelmi Johnson!

We acknowledge the contributions of 3 long-term DSPs who continue to positively contribute to the lives of the people they support & their colleagues.

09/07/2025

It’s the last day of the , NYC’s premier tennis event. Yesterday before the women’s final, people from some of our Manhattan-based residences were able visit the grounds as part of the tournament’s Court of Dreams initiative. Children and adults with disabilities learned the basics of the sport and even got to play on the same surface as legends like Roger Federer, Billie Jean King, Rafael Nadal, and Serena Williams. Many thanks to the US Open and Residential Services Cooridnator Tarina Webb for arranging this memorable day.

Visual Description: Children with disabilities and people from AHRC NYC residences at one of the courts of the US Open in a group photo.

08/25/2025

We are grateful for a visit from Assemblymember Michael Benedetto to two of our Bronx-based Day Services programs. Assemblymember Benedetto, a lifelong Bronx resident and advocate, expressed his support for our programs and complimented the great work of staff members. Many thanks to self-advocate Thelma Rodriguez for sharing her perspective with the assemblymember.

Photo 1: Assemblymember Benedetto (center) with Ana Sostre, Thelma Rodriguez, Marco Damiani, Edie Weber, Steve Towler, and Christopher Treiber.

Photo 2: The assemblymember began his day with a conversation with AHRC NYC leadership, staff, and self-advocates about the path forward in the face of steep federal cuts to Medicaid

Photo 3: Thelma Rodriguez, a Bronx-based self-advocate

Photo 4: Assemblymember Benedetto speaks with a staff member at AHRC NYC's Howie Stone Day Services program

Photo 5: The assemblymember hears from Carlos Encarnación about the ArTech program.

Photo 6: Assemblymember Benedetto was treated to a performance by Dorothy and Michael Styler Center's theater group as they prepared for an upcoming performance of "Hairspray."

08/19/2025

08/18/2025

"Almost 20 million seniors and people with disabilities rely on Medicaid to meet their needs, but Congress intended to cut Medicaid’s funding by $1 trillion over the next decade...Home- and community-based services (H.C.B.S.), which account for roughly a third of all Medicaid spending and more than half of all optional spending, would be a prime target."

Medicaid pays for most of the in-home care that lets disabled Americans live independently. Will coming cuts put that care in jeopardy?

07/10/2025

Celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act with our friends from the New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities.

Join OPWDD in Albany on July 16th to Celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.