Honoring UPS Founder Lynn Wonsang With Co-Street Naming

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Published on May 06, 2019, 2:22 pm
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On May 10, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. in honor of the incredible work, dedication and foresight carried out by the late Lynn Wonsang, Vyse Avenue in Bronx will be co-named Lynn Wonsang Way. This is the street where the first Unique People Services project was located. NYC Councilmember Richie Torres will also attend and was instrumental is supporting the co-naming of the street.

This milestone event is occurring a year to the day of the organizations grand opening of their first affordable supportive housing development, Lynn’s Place. Lynn’s Place, named after the organizations founder Lynn Wonsang, features 69 units of housing, with 42 units of supportive housing for individuals with a mental illness and 27 units of affordable housing for individuals and families making less than 60% AMI.

Lynn Wonsang
Lynn Wonsang

About Lynn Wonsang and Her Vision

“To serve–holistically and without judgment–those who may have been denied compassionate and considerate treatment elsewhere due to their race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, developmental level, health status or criminal or substance use history.”

In 1991, Lynn Wonsang founded Unique People Services. Our mission statement reflects her beliefs and her ultimate goal: to make sure New Yorkers receive vital services regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, health status or criminal history. Lynn believed this would be done through understanding people, providing homes, and serving our communities.

The first Administrative Office was located in the basement of Vyse Avenue – an MR/ICF Program with 10 male consumers – a program she undertook as her starting point. At that time, there were only about 15 employees.

Fast forward 27 years and today thanks to the work of an incredible administration, board of directors, and dedicated staff, we have grown from that single 10-bed Intermediate Care Facility for persons with developmental disabilities in Bronx, to a $30 million-dollar agency with multifaceted supportive housing programs in the Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Westchester County. Additionally in 2018, friends, staff, and elected officials gathered to celebrate the opening of Lynn’s Place, the first supportive and mixed-use affordable housing building developed by UPS and named after this remarkable woman.

Never once did she regret living her dream or the time she sacrificed to found and keep the company going. In fact, she took pride in knowing that the agency was really helping people. And, because of that diligence we all have strived and the agency has continued to grow.

About Unique People Services

Unique People Services, Inc. (UPS) is a New York-based nonprofit 501(c) 3 that provides supportive housing and medical case management services to individuals and families living with mental health challenges, developmental disabilities and HIV/AIDS. The agency operates more than 24 supportive housing programs in the Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Westchester County.

More than 500 New Yorkers call UPS’ home, living in well-appointed residences where they receive meals and support services to help them achieve the highest possible levels of independent living and community inclusion. The transitional, long-term and permanent housing UPS provides has also become a safe haven for many formerly homeless individuals.

For more information about Unique People Services, please visit here.

Location:

2118 Vyse Avenue
Bronx, NY 10460

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Jonas Bronck is the pseudonym under which we publish and manage the content and operations of The Bronx Daily.™ | Bronx.com - the largest daily news publication in the borough of "the" Bronx with over 1.5 million annual readers. Publishing under the alias Jonas Bronck is our humble way of paying tribute to the person, whose name lives on in the name of our beloved borough.