April 2026: A hospitality that outlasts the occasion…
It was 2018.
Two friends in Harlem, Nick and Jesse, offered to host a dinner party (pictured above) with quite the unlikely guest list: graduate students, young and old neighbors, people with and without disabilities.
Among the group were Helen and Zella, who met for the first time that night, bonding over a simple meal and earnest conversation.
Eight years later, through the difficult transitions of Covid and the loss of Zella's mother, their friendship has held steady.
Today we launch our spring campaign to raise 20K by the end of May to meet all of Do For One's hospitality needs for one year.
Setting the table for life together in a world that is falling apart. Every meal, every room, every conversation is a seedbed for the change we seek. It's a hospitality that outlasts the occasion.
P.S. Exciting News!
A generous corporation agreed to match every dollar when given through this campaign page.
Seedbeds of Change
Friendships like Helen and Zella's don't begin in an office where a caseworker assigns a paid staff to do what friends typically do. They begin over a shared meal, in a room full of unlikely neighbors, where voluntary relationships take on a life of their own.
“This was Zella’s first time ever rowing at 72! She was a natural. Because of her, I was prompted to enjoy Central Park on this gorgeous day, go rowing in the renovated boathouse, and dine al fresco."
- Helen
We plant seedbeds of change — spaces where we create the conditions for a community where each person, one to one, can "do for one another." But what grows from it, we can neither predict nor contain.
It multiplies. It grows and grows.
YOUR GIVING DIRECTLY SUPPORTS:
11 community gatherings where friendships between people with and without disabilities deepen
15 learning opportunities including leadership cohorts, lecture nights, info sessions, advocate orientations, and advocate forums
Our biggest event of the year for 120+ guests - our 11th annual 2026 Christmas Party!
