Celebrating Queens’ nonprofit ‘Helping Hands’

There is government and there is the private, for-profit business sector. In between is the world of nonprofits.

There are many kinds of nonprofits, including advocacy groups and those that seem, for all intents and purposes, to just be businesses with a slightly different corporate structure. Some get enmeshed in financial scandals.

And then there are those nonprofits that truly are there to serve, to offer people something they may not be able to get from either the government or the conventional private sector. That something may be substantial, a truly transformational resource that changes, or saves, someone’s life.

And those are the types of organizations we highlight in our 28th annual Celebration of Queens special edition, “Helping Hands: Nonprofits That Change People’s Lives.” Find it inside this week’s print editions or at qchron.com.

The first article is on the Boys & Girls Club — both the Metro Queens and the Variety chapters, the former in Richmond Hill and the latter in Astoria. Both offer great programs in education, sports and more for thousands of kids, and the Western Queens location is set for an expansion that will make it the largest Boys & Girls Club in the country.

Next we delve into the River Fund, an antipoverty group with a fascinating history that has seen it change focus over the decades as it saw needs change. Founded to serve those struck by AIDS more than 30 years ago, it evolved to fight hunger, aiding victims of major tragedies along the way.

After that is Queens Community House, a 50-year-old group with 30 locations and dozens of programs, serving more than 27,000 people a year with everything from English classes to job skills to the home delivery of hot meals.

The next piece is on the Korean American Family Service Center, which has a targeted focus: aiding victims of domestic and sexual violence. Its hotline is just the beginning.

Then there’s Commonpoint Queens, the result of the merger of the old Central Queens YM & YWHA and the Samuel Field Y. It serves “babies to bubbies” with its extensive programming, and its new chairman was, back in the 1970s, a kid whose life was changed by the organization.

Also in the ’70s, HANAC was formed: the Hellenic American Neighborhood Action Committee. Born in Astoria, it now has four older adult centers, provides afterschool tutoring and builds and operates senior housing complexes.

Focusing solely on the younger set, though into early adulthood, is the Greater Ridgewood Youth Council, which gives kids afterschool programs, sports tourneys, dance showcases — and the chance to play video games with cops.

Helping make sure people are fed is Masbia, which has a Forest Hills site that welcomes walk-ins for sitdown meals and provides food people can take home by appointment.

Another group that has evolved over time is The Child Center of New York — its name has become something of a misnomer, as it now offers programs for those of all ages.

Meanwhile, The Fortune Society, based in Long Island City, has a range of services but focuses on a specific clientele: those who have been incarcerated. It helps them reenter society as productive citizens, just as its president did.

Across the borough in Bellerose is the Queens Center for Progress, which assists children and young adults with developmental disabilities to be as independent as they can be.

Rounding out the section is the YMCA, which we understand is fun to stay at. Unlike this piece, the story makes no allusion to the song, instead just outlining the classes, sports, services and more you can get at its six Queens locations.

We hope you find “Helping Hands” as fascinating to read as we did to write it. We couldn’t fit every worthy group, but many are there. And if you need them, they’re there for you.