Our History
Northern Rivers Family of Services helps change lives by shaping the future of those we serve. The founders of member agencies, Northeast Parent & Child Society and Parsons Child & Family Center were the earliest social entrepreneurs. Parsons was founded in 1829 by Orissa Healy and Eliza Wilcox, whose mission was to provide shelter, care, and education to the orphaned, neglected, and abused children in the city of Albany. Northeast was formed in 1888 when a group of ladies met in Schenectady to do “something for the homeless children of our city.” The bold and compassionate leadership of our founders set the original course that is still in place today.
1829
The agency known today as Parsons Child & Family Center was founded by Orissa Healy and Eliza Wilcox, whose mission was to provide shelter, care, and education to the orphaned, neglected, and abused children in the city of Albany. It was originally named “The Ladies Orphan Society.”
1888
The agency known today as Northeast Parent & Child Society was founded when a group of ladies met in Schenectady to do “something for the homeless children of our city.” It was named “The Home for Destitute Children” and later renamed the “Children’s Home of Schenectady.” By 1893, there were 24 children from ages 2 to 18 in care.
1902
Schenectady Humane Society was formed to help needy families. In 1916, the Humane Society opens Children’s Shelter.
1959
Children’s Home Opens First Group Home in Upstate New York.
1975
Neil Hellman School opens.
1976
Parsons Child and Family Center is created from The Ladies Orphan Society.
1983
Northeast Parent & Child Society is formed, uniting Children’s Home of Schenectady and the Schenectady Humane Society.
1988
Residential Treatment facility opens at Parsons, providing intensive inpatient mental health care for adolescents.
2012
Northern Rivers Family of Services becomes the new parent company of Parsons Child & Family Center and Northeast Parent & Child Society creating one of the largest human services agencies in upstate New York.
2019
Unlimited Potential in Saratoga is added as an affiliate. Unlimited Potential provides vocational rehabilitation and supportive services to individuals in recovery after experiencing a mental illness.
2019
New Behavioral Health Care Center opens in Albany, New York.
2020
Academy Place, Northern Rivers’ new 24-bed agency-owned boarding house opens; Wasson, Rathbone, and Lathrop Cottages, housing the former Residential Treatment Facility (RTC), demolished; a new Short-Term Crisis Stabilization Program, North Star, opens.
