FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Elizabeth Koke, Housing Works
Phone: 646-342-9350 Email: e.koke@housingworks.org
HOUSING WORKS AND HARLEM UNITED ANNOUNCE UPCOMING MERGER; WILL CREATE ONE OF NEW YORK CITY’S LARGEST PROVIDERS OF COMMUNITY HEALTH CARE AND COMPREHENSIVE SERVICES
New York City’s leading advocacy and service organization will add Harlem United’s FQHC, integrated harm reduction, housing, and supportive services for low-income New Yorkers affected by HIV/AIDS, homelessness, behavioral health and other chronic health conditions.
NEW YORK (July 1, 2026)—Housing Works, an advocacy and service organization with a chain of social enterprises in New York City including well-known Thrift Shops, today announced its upcoming merger with service and advocacy organization Harlem United. Both organizations were founded by AIDS activists during the early days of the epidemic and have since expanded their services and advocacy efforts to support all those who face barriers to care. Like Housing Works, Harlem United delivers primary care, behavioral health and integrated harm reduction services, housing, and supportive services. Harlem United has maintained a strong community presence in Harlem and the Bronx, which will continue its growth as part of Housing Works.
The merger, which is planned to be completed in late 2026, will create an FQHC with 15 health center and satellite sites, nearly 1,000 units of transitional and permanent housing, and a constellation of services reaching more than 20,000 low-income New Yorkers annually, with an expanded focus on upper Manhattan and the South Bronx. Clients from both organizations will benefit from streamlined entry points and improved care coordination across primary care, behavioral health, HIV services, substance use treatment, and supportive housing.
“We’re delighted by the opportunity to bring Harlem United’s brand, FQHC, and services into the Housing Works family,” said Jacqui Kilmer, CEO of Harlem United. “As New York City’s two leading legacy HIV/AIDS service and advocacy organizations, each focused from our grassroots beginnings on our city’s most underserved communities, this collaboration will deliver the scale and resources necessary to meet the needs of the most marginalized New Yorkers, particularly in greater Harlem.”
“This planned merger will bring together two truly New York organizations with shared history, values, and mission,” said Housing Works President Matthew Bernardo. “Housing Works will continue to serve the Harlem United community with expanded service delivery to New Yorkers in upper Manhattan and the Bronx. With new resources and improved access to primary care and mental health services, the combined entity will broaden its nonjudgmental, wrap-around care model to more communities in need.”
Added Marvin Griffith, Chair of the Harlem United Board of Directors, “We are excited to join forces with Housing Works as we grow and enhance services for unhoused and low-income New Yorkers living with HIV and other chronic health and behavioral health conditions. Nearly four decades since our founding, the Harlem United family is proud and grateful for the partnership with Housing Works as we together fight to achieve social justice and health equity, and bring an end to the HIV epidemic.”
“We look forward to joining forces with Housing Works, an organization with which we share a history, mission, and vision,” stated Raymond Verrey, Chair of the Board of Directors of Upper Room AIDS Ministry, Inc., which operates Harlem United’s federally qualified health center. “Together, we’ll continue to deliver vital community-driven services to yet more New Yorkers.”
In addition to expanded primary care, housing, and comprehensive services, the combined organization will benefit from shared finances, centralized billing, and a robust quality improvement and compliance program.
Housing Works and Harlem United are also pleased to announce that the New York Merger and Collaboration Fund (NYMAC) has made a generous grant to support the upcoming work of integrating the two organizations. NYMAC encourages and supports mergers, acquisitions, joint-ventures, and others types of formal, long-term collaborations between nonprofits in New York City. NYMAC’s funders include Altman Foundation, The Booth Ferris Foundation, The Clark Foundation, The Heckscher Foundation for Children, The Lodestar Foundation, The New York Community Trust, and SeaChange Capital Partners.
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About Housing Works: Housing Works was founded in 1990 as an outgrowth of the powerful social movement ACT UP. With a long-term commitment to AIDS advocacy, Housing Works has grown into one of the nation’s largest HIV/AIDS service organizations. Serving more than 15,000 clients annually, Housing Works operates six Federally Qualified Health Centers (four in Manhattan and two in Brooklyn) as well as many other satellite sites. Additionally, Housing Works established New York State’s first harm-reduction-based OASAS-licensed outpatient drug treatment program. Other services include Health Home care management, behavioral health, vocational training, and syringe exchange programs. A pioneer in the social entrepreneurship movement, Housing Works operates nine high-end thrift shops in Manhattan and Brooklyn and a much-loved Bookstore Cafe in Soho. For more information, visit www.housingworks.org
About Harlem United: Harlem United Community AIDS Center, Inc. was founded in 1988 as a grassroots response to the AIDS epidemic. Harlem United was one of the first organizations willing to treat and care for people living with HIV or AIDS. Today, Harlem United is a nationally recognized, multi-service community healthcare organization, serving over 6,000 clients annually with a mission to advance health equity through healthcare, housing, and harm reduction. Deeply rooted in providing comprehensive, client-centered, and compassionate care, Harlem United continues to reach the most vulnerable residents of the greater Harlem community. For more information, visit www.harlemunited.org.
*For more information or to request interviews please contact Elizabeth Koke at e.koke@housingworks.org or by phone at 646-342-9350.
