IMANI HOUSE was initially started in Liberia, West Africa as a result of the countries civil war, by Mrs. Bisi Ideraabdullah. IMANI HOUSE’s founder and family migrated to the small West African nation in 1985, and in 1990 when fighting reached the capital, Monrovia, Mr. & Mrs. Ideraabdullah sent their 5 children back to the US and stayed behind. Being a firsthand witness to the chaos and suffering brought about by the war, Mrs. Ideraabdullah began administering to the wounded and sick at Bushrod Island’s, Island Hospital near her home.

Large numbers of orphaned children were brought to the hospital for treatment and once they regained their health, there was no where for them to go, therefore Mrs. Ideraabdullah began an orphanage in her own home.

On one of several trips back to the US to find support for the orphanage, Mrs. Ideraabdullah realized that many of the same problems she was trying to solve in Liberia affected residents of her hometown, Brooklyn, NY so she decided to start a program in New York.

The organizations first US project, an Adult Literacy/ESOL program was created to assist low-income and immigrant Brooklyn populations; then staffed by the Executive Director and founder (who is a trained certified Laubach Literacy Tutor Trainer with 22 years of experience), and one volunteer.

In a 17 year period, IHI’s programs have expanded to meet the diverse and growing needs of Brooklyn and Liberian communities. In the US we directly serve over 1000 low-income families, youth, immigrants and elderly each year, and indirectly through referrals, community outreach, workshops and forums, we serve an additional 4,000 persons. High performance, volunteers and careful use of resources is key to our success.

IHI’s Brooklyn site is now staffed by 2 full-time employees and 16 part-time employees many who volunteer extra time to assist the organization and those we serve. We have sustained our programs with minimal resources on a level of organizations with much larger budgets. On average we recruit and train over 42 local volunteers who help in our programs. This allows IHI to efficiently manage our budget while effectively running our valuable programs. IHI has gained recognition over the years and is known as a hard working community building organization.

Our headquarters are located in South Brooklyn, one of the most ethnically and economically diverse areas of New York City. Although our US programs benefit all of Brooklyn, we primarily serve disadvantaged members of Gowanus, Red Hook, Fort Greene, Sunset Park, Flatbush, Park Slope, and parts of Crown Heights.

IHI has won many awards and commendations for it’s excellent services including: proclamations from former Brooklyn and Manhattan Borough Presidents Howard Golden and Ruth Messenger; Proliteracy’s Family Literacy Award of Excellence; The Presidential Daily Points of Light Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service; The Union Square Award for Outstanding Community Programming, and more.

Our US programs include Adult Education, Elementary and High School After school Youth Development programs, Employment Assistance and Job Development, a Food Pantry and Information and referrals. All programs are offered to the community free of charge.

In Liberia we offer a free clinic, Adult Literacy, an Agriculture program and Tailoring training.