About Us - Immigrant Social Services

OUR MISSION

We strive to co-create an environment where underserved immigrants and children of immigrants in Chinatown/Lower East Side can thrive and shape their futures.

Through our programs and services, we nurture and empower our community’s children, youth, young adults, families, and older adults to restore their agency, while working to transform the systems and cultivate opportunities that enable them to flourish.

On View at ISS Storefront for Ideas, 127 Walker St

2025 Shared Dialogue, Shared Space (SDSS)

December 12, 2025 — February 21, 2026 (Closed December 25 & 26; January 1 & 2)

Gallery Hours: Thursday – Sunday, 1pm – 6pm

The exhibition is free and open to the public.

Shared Dialogue, Shared Space (SDSS), organized by Korea Art Forum, is an ongoing series of outdoor participatory art events held at accessible community hubs in immigrant neighborhoods around New York City. SDSS offers residents and visitors the unique opportunity to engage directly with artists and work with them to develop projects that address issues of language, identity, migration, conflict, and cultural production – key issues that define the experience of New Yorkers.

2025 Artists:

Moses Ros, Nature’s Echo II

Lizbeth De La Cruz Santana, The U.S. Childhood Arrivals Mural Project

Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga, MIGRANTOPOLY

Ali Motamedi, Where We Land

Cecilia Lim, Remember Your Connection: Mending & Repair

Guest Curators: Jennifer McGregor and Martin Lucas

Following the unveiling of their public art installations across New York City, these artists present an indoor exhibition, extending their outdoor public art installations realized at multiple sites across New York City into a shared reflective experience at the Storefront for Ideas.

ISS 53rd Anniversay Dinner

October 23, 2025

House of Joy, 28 Pell Street, Chinatown

Thank you for being part of an unforgettable evening celebrating our community!

Our Impact

$ 0 m

Total wages earned by youth & young adult (ages 16-24) afterschool programs staff through our commitment to community-based hiring.

$ 0 k

Total afterschool scholarships low-income working parents in our afterschool programs received, ensuring affordable childcare and bridging the gap left unmet by public funding.

"The ISS afterschool program has helped my daughter grow in the years that she has been attending. It has helped her with being more social and trying new things, as well as help with homework. The staff have helped her grow, by communicating with her in a way that lets her see where maybe she could've done things differently so that moving forward, she can make better choices. They make sure we know that if there is anything we need we can reach out and they will do their best, and if they can't help they will guide us to where we might be able to get the help needed".

~Parent of afterschool program student from a single-parent household~

0 %

The improvement in problem-solving skills and positive behaviors achieved by students through our dedicated prevention and social-emotional learning over the school year

Number of native Chinese-speaking volunteers trained to facilitate civic and community empowerment efforts by leveraging their language fluency and community trust to educate and mobilize peers for greater civic participation.

$ 0 k

Value of free space provided, enabling peer organizations, artists, and community groups to hold programs, meetings, and exhibitions, fostering dialog and creative changemaking.

Caring for, Investing in, Building up Our Community—Together.

Your generosity ensures the families, youth, and elders we serve have the resources they need to thrive.