United Neighborhood Houses Breaks Fundraising Record with Honoree Kevin McCollum

United Neighborhood Houses (UNH), the century-old New York-based nonprofit that works with settlement houses and community centers to help strengthen communities and better serve the people of New York, has announced that Tony Award-winning Broadway Producer Kevin McCollum [RENT, Avenue Q, In The Heights] upcoming Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York)], who was honored at their annual gala, generated more revenue for the progressive advocacy organization than any single honoree in its history.

McCollum was honored as UNH’s 2025 New Yorker Who Makes a Difference on September 25. The event has raised $780,000 to date, with donations still coming in. For people interested in contributing, donations can be made at: https://www.unhny.org/donate.

UNH is a non-profit policy and social change organization representing New York's neighborhood settlement houses, serving people of all ages, backgrounds, and incomes on a broad range of issues including civic and community engagement, neighborhood affordability, healthy aging, early childhood education, adult literacy, and youth development. To support and strengthen settlement house members, UNH customizes and conducts professional development and peer learning opportunities for the settlement house workforce, drives public policy change through collective advocacy and mobilization rooted in settlement house priorities, and supports innovative programming that leverages the settlement house model to meet community needs. Together, the settlement house network reaches over 800,000 New Yorkers every year.

McCollum was recognized by UNH both for his significant and meaningful contributions to New York culture as one of Broadway’s most prolific producers, as well as for the values he shares with the settlement house movement. McCollum's body of work – often based in or inspired by New York – celebrates the greatest City on earth while up lifting the important role we all could play in helping each other feel connected to something bigger than ourselves.  

Continuing in his tradition and passion for producing shows like RENT, Avenue Q, In The Heights, The Drowsy Chaperone, [title of show], McCollum is currently preparing to launch on Broadway this fall the new, original musical comedy Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York), which celebrates the possibilities, connections, and serendipitous moments that can only happen in New York City.  McCollum acknowledged the strong overlap between his work and UNH’s mission in a video prepared for the occasion.

"United Neighborhood Houses are not just Do Gooders, they’re Good Doers, and they are able to accomplish a lot with limited funding” says honoree Kevin McCollum. “At this moment when New York faces mounting political and economic challenges, many of us are searching for places to get involved, raise our voices, and make a difference. To quote Arthur Miller, “attention must be paid” to this wonderful organization.”

“Beyond raising more for UNH in one night than any honoree has in our long history, I’m grateful to Kevin for how deeply he connected with our work and our mission as honoree,” said Susan Stamler, Executive Director of United Neighborhood Houses. “Kevin understands settlement houses, the important work they do for New Yorkers, and the parallels between these two storied New York institutions: Settlement houses and Broadway.”

For more information about United Neighborhood Houses, visit: www.unhny.org.

Kevin McCollum is one of the most prolific and successful Broadway producers with a career spanning 25 years in the theatre industry.  He has received the Tony Award for Best Musical for In the Heights (2008), Avenue Q (2004), and Rent (1996), which also won the Pulitzer Prize. Mr. McCollum is currently represented on Broadway with SIX, the upcoming Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York); off-Broadway and on tour with the Olivier Award-winning The Play That Goes Wrong; and in the West End with The Devil Wears Prada.  He produced The Notebook (Broadway, US Tour), Motown: The Musical (Broadway, West End, UK & US Tours), Something Rotten! (Broadway, National Tour), Hand to God (Broadway, West End), The Drowsy Chaperone (Broadway), Mike Birbiglia’s The New One (Broadway, US Tour); Baz Luhrmann’s production of Puccini’s La Boheme in 2002, [title of show] in 2008, the touring and Broadway productions of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, the off-Broadway hit De La Guarda, and the 2009 Broadway revival of West Side Story.

In 1995 Mr. McCollum co-founded The Producing Office, and has since created ALCHEMATION, a theatrical and media producing company committed to new work. Mr. McCollum was trained at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and earned his master’s degree in film producing from the Peter Stark Program at the University of Southern California. In 1995, he received the Robert Whitehead Award for Outstanding Commercial Theatre Producing. 

UNITED NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSES OF NEW YORK (UNH) is a policy and social change organization with a mission to promote and strengthen settlement houses’ neighborhood-based, multi-service approach to improving the lives of low- and moderate-income New Yorkers. UNH was founded in 1919 by settlement house leaders who recognized the strength in their collective voices to drive important social reforms. With this goal, UNH was tasked to coordinate the efforts of settlement houses; document their shared learning and experiences; and increase the influence and impact of settlement houses for the greater good of New York communities.