The Community Service Society of New York (CSS) identifies and tackles the problems creating and perpetuating poverty in New York City by applying our experience through distinct but mutually supportive approaches. CSS:- Provides direct services and creates model programs- Offers technical assistance and training to individuals, community-based organizations and city-wide agencies- Advocates, researches, and shapes public policy on behalf of New Yorkers in need The Community Service Society is an independent, nonprofit organization. For more than 150 years CSS has helped New Yorkers in need to defeat the problems of poverty and strengthen community life for all. CSS was formed through the merger of two nineteenth-century charitable organizations. Among our earlier accomplishments, which still show impact today, are the founding of what later became Columbia University School of Social Work in 1898; the development of the first prototype free school lunch program in 1913; the establishment of the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) in 1966, now the largest such program in the country; and the design of the model for the city's primary care neighborhood-based health clinics in 1993.

“We fight poverty on multiple fronts to build a stronger, more equitable New York.”