The Fred L. Lavanburg Foundation was established in 1927 as a low-income, non-profit housing corporation for families with children who were unable to find housing elsewhere. The Lavanburg Homes were constructed at 124-142 Baruch Place in Manhattan in 1927, opening to the first residents in December of that year. In 1956, having served as a model for subsized low-income housing, but well-overshadowed by the growth of public housing projects in the 1930s and beyond, the Lavanburg Homes were donated to New York City. The City repurposed these buildings for a program to rehabilitate temporarily homeless families. In the 1960s, the Lavanburg Foundation took on a second construction project, building the Lavanburg Villages in the Bronx. From 1927 to 2006, the Lavanburg Foundation also provided seed-money grants to organizations assisting in the foundation's mission of providing better housing and social support for low-income families. The Lavanburg Foundation closed in 2011.
From the guide to the Lavanburg Foundation records, 1927-2011, (The New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division.)
