City & State New York’s 2025 Above & Beyond: Social Services List
As published in City & State NY’s Power Lists, August 4, 2025
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A quarter of New York City residents now live in poverty, according to a recent Robin Hood report, a rate nearly double that of the nation as a whole. Across New York, homelessness continues to rise. And nearly 7 million residents of the state are enrolled in Medicaid, the joint federal-state health care program for people with limited resources, and many are at risk of losing coverage under new federal tax legislation.
Fortunately, hundreds of nonprofit organizations provide a safety net for the most vulnerable New Yorkers, delivering such basic necessities as food and shelter. These nonprofits offer services at every stage of life, from early childhood development to elder care, and reach a wide range of clients, including those dealing with developmental disabilities, chronic diseases, substance use and other challenges.
City & State’s second annual Above & Beyond: Social Services highlights notable figures in this critical sector: innovators tapping into groundbreaking research, identifying better practices and adopting technological innovations; strong, experienced leaders guiding their organizations through political winds; public officials in key oversight and policymaking roles; and advisers and consultants allowing nonprofits to focus on carrying out their core missions.
We’re pleased to introduce the 2025 Above & Beyond: Social Services honorees.
Profiles by John Celock, Yunior Rivas, Amanda Salazar & Erica Scalise
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James Hollywood
Vice President of Residential Treatment, Samaritan Daytop Village
James Hollywood has been in the social services sector for more than three decades – not because it’s easy, but because it’s essential.
“It’s amazing to see how transformative it can be,” he says. “Seeing those wins, righting the injustice, providing people with paths, just to be there as a support or sometimes just as a witness and cheerleader.”
As vice president of residential treatment at Samaritan Daytop Village, Hollywood oversees substance use recovery programs built around real-world support. “The focus really is on functioning,” he says. “Helping people not just with cessation of drugs, but more importantly, in reassembling their lives.”
That holistic view extends all across his portfolio: recovery services, housing supports, training programs and peer-led community care. “We treat not just addiction and mental illness and health concerns, but also those social determinants of health needs that really make not just recovery possible, but a sustained life outside of an institution possible.”
For Hollywood, recovery is personal and collective. “We engage and meet people where they are and help them navigate recovery in their community,” he says. “And that recognition, from another, that someone has power and potential, it enlivens and allows that person to bring forth what was already there to begin with.
Hollywood is clear-eyed about what the work demands. “You have to pace yourself,” he says. “This work is never done. Resilience comes from finding ways to reencourage yourself and staying aligned with your values.”
– Y.R.
