For over 60 years, Selfhelp has been a leading nonprofit housing developer. Our purpose is simple yet profound: we strive to enable adults to age with dignity in the place they love most – their own home.

There continues to be a shortage of affordable housing in the greater New York City area, where more than one-quarter renters are age 60 or older. For older adults, the stress of unstable housing worsens existing mental and physical conditions. We believe that aging adults should never have to worry about being homeless so we “think big” to tackle the housing crisis.

What We Do

Selfhelp Realty Group | The Melamid Institute for Affordable Housing ensures that older New Yorkers have beautiful, safe, and affordable housing that fosters healthy aging. Our mission extends beyond building homes—we create vibrant communities where residents can access essential onsite services tailored to support their well-being.

From planning and developing state-of-the-art apartment buildings across New York City and Long Island to enhancing our existing residences, we bring innovation and thoughtfulness to every project. Our nationally recognized service model ensures residents receive the care and support they need, setting a high standard for housing for aging adults. With over six decades of experience, we proudly serve as a trusted resource to organizations nationwide, sharing our expertise to drive positive change. We also advocate passionately for increased local, state, and federal investment in affordable housing with onsite services, ensuring more older adults can age with dignity and independence.

We’re building more than homes; we’re building a brighter future for aging adults and their communities.

Aging on Pace

There are thousands of older New Yorkers in need of affordable housing, and we want to welcome them home to a building meant just for them. Each Selfhelp building is thoughtfully designed for older residents and offers the compassionate care every adult need to age with dignity.

Selfhelp Active Services for Aging Model (SHASAM) brings a social worker onsite at each Selfhelp building to support aging on pace for each tenant. SHASAM gives each tenant the unique supports they need as they grow older at home. Our buildings provide the community and connection we all need to preserve health and well-being as we get older.

What is Selfhelp Active Services for Aging Model (SHASAM)?

  • Onsite culturally competent social worker
  • Assistance with entitlements and benefits
  • Educational, social, and wellness programs
  • Aging services technology including the Virtual Senior Center
  • Referrals to local Older Adult Centers, volunteer opportunities, and services such as home-delivered meals, home care, subsidized housekeeping, mental health, case management
  • and more

SHASAM is an evidence-based program. Read more the white paper here: Healthy Housing: An Evaluation of Selfhelp Active Services for Aging Model (SHASAM)

Voices from Selfhelp Housing​

1,900+

Residents
Buildings
0
Buildings coming soon
0

Our Affordable Housing Residences

Allan and Geraldine Rosenberg Residence
Freeport, Nassau County
Learn More
Wyandanch
Wyandanch, Suffolk County
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Glendale
Glendale, Queens
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Apex Houses I & II
Westbury, Nassau County
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Our Story

In 1964, Selfhelp built its first building to provide apartments for Holocaust survivors with an onsite social worker to promote aging with dignity. This model of housing + services remains at our core today.

The Melamid Institute for Affordable Housing serves as the primary entity for Selfhelp’s housing development projects. Named in honor of Holocaust survivor and philanthropist Ilse Melamid, the Institute will advance affordable housing policies and funding through advocacy opportunities, sharing our best practices and experience as a provider of affordable senior housing for more than six decades.

Meet Ilse Melamid

The Selfhelp Realty Group | The Melamid Institute of Affordable Housing has been named in honor of Holocaust survivor and philanthropist Ilse Melamid. For Ilse Melamid, a Holocaust survivor, losing her home in Vienna during the Nazi era left a lifelong emotional scar and she wanted her legacy to increase access to housing for all older New Yorkers.

Latest Research

Click here to learn more about the Announcement.

Click here to learn more about Affordable Housing for Older Adults.

Click here to learn more about Affordable Housing for Older Adults.

CONTACT US

Selfhelp Realty Group

520 Eighth Avenue, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10018

Phone 212-947-8701
Fax 212-947-8701