The Henry Street Settlement serves Manhattan's Lower East Side, which is historically and still currently one of the most ethnically varied communities in the country. The predominant group is Latino (Puerto Rican and Dominican), and recently the area has seen an influx of Asian families from China, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The neighborhood also includes a sizable African American community, immigrants from Bangladesh and India, Polish, Ukrainian and Russian émigrés, and an orthodox Jewish community. In a society still suffering from racism and divisions between people from different backgrounds, one of the Lower East Side's greatest strengths is the rich cultural, racial and ethnic diversity of its people.

The Lower East Side is at once the embodiment of the American dream and a repository of some of the nation's most intractable problems. Thirty-seven percent of the residents live below the poverty line—12% higher than the New York State average and 17% higher than the United States average. The district also continues to have high rates of school dropouts, teenage pregnancy, unemployment, and youth arrests. While many young people hope to go to college and dream of a better future, most are not prepared for the rigors of higher education. According to the 19992000 Annual District Report from the New York City Board of Education, just 35% of the students tested in Community School District #1 met New York State and City standards in English, and a mere 31% in Math. Another difficulty is that several apartment complexes have high concentrations of elderly residents. In the Vladeck Houses, for example, half of the residents are sixty years of age or older and isolated. Three-quarters of these are low-income, 40% are disabled to some extent, and only 26% speak English as their primary language. High rates of violence and drug use continue to impact the community, and in addition, the Lower East Side has one of the highest incidences of HIV infection in the country.

While there are many risk factors in the neighborhood, there are also many strengths. These include a sense of community among residents, a strong Community Board, the presence of social service agencies, and cultural-based values among many families that place an emphasis on involvement of the extended family in the care of children and the elderly.