caring for kids & families since 1894
ABOUT Us
MercyFirst is a Sanctuary-certified, not-for-profit human and social service agency serving more than 3,000 children, teenagers and families each year in the New York metropolitan area. Founded as an orphanage in the late 1800s by the Sisters of Mercy, MercyFirst (a merger between Angel Guardian Home in Brooklyn and St. Mary of the Angels Home in Syosset) today offers a range of life-changing, trauma-informed interventions to children and families in need through a network of programs and services throughout New York City (Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island) and across Long Island.
400,000 lives impacted since 1894
The staff of MercyFirst are professionally trained and prepared to respond to the complex needs of traumatized and neglected children, youth with serious emotional problems, teens and young adults without families who must learn to make their own way as adults, and families coping with poverty, homelessness, domestic violence, substance abuse and mental illness. We strive to provide a healing interval in the lives of the children and families we serve. We offer them a safe and healing environment and help them open doors and tap into resources, in an effort to develop their full potential. Here is how we help.
a 128-YEAR legacy of mercy…
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A MINISTRY OF THE SISTERS OF MERCY?
As a ministry of the Sisters of Mercy, MercyFirst’s work aligns with the mission and values of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy, a religious congregation established in Ireland in the early 1800s by our foundress, Catherine McAuley. With time, the Sisters of Mercy became an international religious organization and Catherine McAuley's legacy of caring for the economically poor, especially women and children, grew to include social service agencies like MercyFirst which first opened its doors in 1894. MercyFirst has evolved into an inclusive organization of diverse backgrounds that carries on the Mercy name and values. Today, our culture of care and professional excellence provides a safe haven for children who have experienced severe trauma from abuse, neglect or abandonment, and strengthens families and communities.
Learn more about our history.
“Through Direct service and through our influence we seek to relieve misery, to address its causes and to support all persons who struggle for full dignity.”
- The Constitutions of the Sisters of Mercy