Next week, the Henry Street Settlement will celebrate 125 years of providing service to the poor and the sick in New York City. Part of its celebrations will focus on its founder, Lillian Wald. In this "Louis Letter," Errol Louis tells us the story of an authentic New York hero — who also founded the Visiting Nurse Service of New York and was a cofounder of the NAACP — and how she and the Henry Street Settlement tackled poverty on their own.