Bowery Residents Committee Inc

About Bowery Residents Committee Inc

Bowery Residents’ Committee (BRC) is a large New York City nonprofit that combines housing and homeless services with addiction and mental health treatment. They began in 1971, when a small group of Bowery residents in recovery started a mutual-aid day program for sober men, and they opened their first residential program, a sobering-up station, in 1976. Their approach is client-centered and strengths-based, meeting people where they are and treating homelessness, substance use, and mental illness as connected challenges. Their two addiction treatment programs serve more than 500 men and women each year through rehab, counseling, and harm reduction services.

Their Chemical Dependency Crisis Center provides specialized services and flexible care models for people facing an acute addiction crisis. Mental health treatment is woven throughout their programs, with a particular focus on adults with serious and persistent mental illness, many of whom also struggle with substance use. Clients can also connect with BRC’s 19 transitional housing programs, permanent supportive housing, 24/7 street and subway outreach, and the Horizons workforce program, which helps shelter residents build the skills to find and keep a job. That range of support can be especially valuable for someone whose recovery is closely tied to unstable housing.