About The Door

Recognizing a need

In the summer of 1970, the International Center for Integrative Studies (ICIS) brought together a task force of young professionals to analyze the acute crisis affecting America’s urban adolescent population. Drug abuse, crime, rising teen pregnancy rates and incidences of sexually transmitted diseases, in addition to high rates of school dropout and unemployment, were among the most serious social problems facing young people. After extensive exploration, the task force concluded that the life needs of urban youth could only be met by an entirely new approach to youth service. This approach led to the founding of The Door.

Developing an answer

The Door was created as a model to demonstrate the effectiveness of providing comprehensive, integrated services and of developing networks of linkages among existing service systems. The original team was made up of young professionals in the fields of medicine, psychiatry, law, education, social work and the arts. They set out to develop a program that would offer young people relevant services, programs and meaningful life alternatives. At the start, there was no money, no space, no equipment or staff – only a group of deeply concerned volunteers who recognized the crisis of inner-city youth and were determined to do something about it.

The early years

By March 1971, several task forces were meeting to explore and plan the various service components, among them health, mental health, drug abuse, law, family planning, social services education, vocation and the creative and recreational arts. Interdisciplinary teams from The Door established working relationships with a network of youth agencies, hospitals and other relevant institutions. By that fall, more than 100 liaison and cooperative arrangements for back-up services and mutual referrals were secured. The project took a giant step forward when a program in Greenwich Village offered free storefront space to The Door. In November and December of 1971, more than 50 volunteers undertook the renovation of the space on East 12th Street. They even built exam rooms, a small medical lab and a pharmacy. In January of 1972, though lacking funding, The Door opened with a staff comprised solely of volunteers. Free services addressed the totality of a young person’s needs and strengths. With three years of learning experience and substantial financial support from the Ford Foundation, The Door moved to its first permanent home on Sixth Avenue and 18th Street in 1975; it was able to incorporate, both in program and design, the best features of those early experiences. Although programs are added and changed to adapt to the changing needs of its members, the holistic and human approach at The Door has never changed.

1989-Today

The Door moved to its present location in 1989 and continues to draw hundreds of New York City youth daily, over 11,000 annually. These adolescents know that they can come to The Door in a crisis, and that they can count on continuing care, support and encouragement. As an authentic model of constructive human relationships — working with other adolescents and staff in whom they can place confidence — The Door has won the loyalty and trust of many thousands of young people.