Our Purpose

Our Mission & Values

The Harlem Children’s Zone started with one mission that was the most ambitious and audacious in U.S. history: to end intergenerational poverty in Central Harlem and lead the way for other long-distressed communities nationwide and around the world to do the same.

Our Approach

Intergenerational poverty is often the result of a series of interconnected systemic failures. This is why Harlem Children’s Zone strengthens the foundations of neighborhoods by rooting out poverty on every front—block by block, need for need.

Our Impact

Our pioneering place-based model has grown to scale and serves more than 22,500 children and families annually within our 97-block Zone. Our impact is felt globally, and we are humbled by all those who’ve helped make it possible over the years.

Our History & Zone Map

Ours is a story of relentless evolution in the name of a revolution—to innovate a series of place-based services, designed to systematically break the cycle of intergenerational poverty.