LSA Family Health Service, Inc.

The Little Sisters of the Assumption Family Health Service is a small neighborhood organization working with the families of East Harlem since 1958.

We address the many dimensions of family health - physical, emotional, educational and spiritual. Our programs are designed to empower those who are most vulnerable and who have least access to the basic necessities of life, in the conviction that the entire community grows when individuals and families are affirmed in their own dignity.

Our overall goal is to help families in East Harlem become self-sustaining, contributing members of the community. We work flexibly with families for as long as necessary, and never refuse or interrupt work with a family for lack of government funding or other reimbursements.

LSA has developed a range of services in five basic program areas:

1) The Certified Home Health Agency provides skilled nursing, physical therapy, aide services, social work and pastoral care in the home, with a focus of pre and post-partum mothers. We also have an Environmental Health Program which helps families who have an environmental health isssue in the home, and includes housing advocacy.

2) Our Education and Youth Services program offers classes and group activities aimed at education and education advocacy, including tutoring, homework help, evening arts programs, a Girls Mentoring Program, Summer Reading Academy, and other opportunities for youth education, education support and recreation opportunities.

3) The Family Support Program works closely with parents/caregivers in severely stressed families whose children are at risk for abuse or neglect, so that family unity is not disrupted and children are spared the trauma of foster care placement.

4) The Early Childhood Program is designed from birth to age three. It has two components: the Home-Based with Socialization Program and the Early Intervention Program. Healthy child development is the focus of this program, and includes parental support and counseling.

5) The Advocacy Program helps families gain access to services to which they are entitled and brings the needs of poor families to the attention of public officials. Our Emergency Food Pantry provides emergency food packages to families who have exhausted all other resources, and especially for pregnant women and new mothers whose nutritional needs are most acute.

6) The Sharing Place thrift store is a high quality, low cost thrift store that offers community members a place to shop for needed items for their family.

History: From the beginning, LSA had a vision: that the inherent strength of families is a bedrock on which to build. When we opened in 1958, our primary focus was on providing skilled nursing care to poor families in their own homes - especially to pregnant women, new parents and their babies, and the elderly homebound and infirm.

Today we offer a broad range of health care, social services, education, advocacy and crisis counseling services to hundreds of the most vulnerable families in the community. We work with the poorest families, many of whom are recent immigrants who speak little English. Our staff is comprised mostly of professionals: community health nurses, social workers, educators, child development specialists, and advocates.

Volunteers play a very important role at our agency, and offer a vital presence to all our programs.