The New York Women’s Foundation Announces Its Resilience-NYC Grants
Twenty-two grassroots organizations have been awarded a combined total of $1,000,000, the first recipients of Resiliency-NYC grants from The New York Women’s Foundation, it was announced today by Ana Oliveira, The Foundation’s President and CEO.
Created in December 2016 in response to the shifting national political landscape and looming federal-level policy changes expected to adversely impact New York’s most vulnerable communities, Resilience-NYC funds organizations and programs that work with women and families directly impacted by changes in federal policies to address wide-ranging discrimination and abuse including political, economic, sexual, health and physical violence.
Grants were awarded based on the programs’ ability to build resistance to negative policies and strategies or to protect positive policy strides at risk; to ensure that an organization and its programs could lead effective community-led solutions; to build on the strengths of leaders, staff, volunteers; and to increase women's presence in the political process.
“After November’s presidential election, it became clear that many New York City organizations would face increased demands for services with strained resources. They felt a growing urgency to organize and advocate against changes in policies that would have a detrimental impact on the people they serve: women, children, the poor, immigrants and the LGBTQI community. In response, The New York Women’s Foundation developed Resilience-NYC, a grantmaking strategy to protect, resist, and respond to the additional stresses of our grantee partners and help them to encourage engagement in protecting civil rights and social services,” said Ms. Oliveira.
The 22 Resilience-NYC grant recipients are:
Adhikaar for Human Rights and Social Justice received a $60,000 grant to strengthen the focus and integration of its services and campaign work in the face of increased threats to immigrants from the federal administration. The organization will educate, support, uplift and mobilize Nepali-speaking communities to campaign for immigrant rights, fight back against anti-immigration policies and enforcement practices while building a community defense program.
CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities (CAAAV) received a $40,000 grant to build the capacity of staff and members to transform trauma into resilience and move through challenges as organizers and community members. CAAAV will provide individual and group somatics coaching, build community among tenants and youth staff, and create an organizational strategic plan.
Callen-Lorde Community Health Center (Callen-Lorde) will use its $60,000 grant to support resistance against harmful healthcare policies and build their transgender advocacy portfolio.
A $60,000 grant will allow the Center for Family Life, a program of SCO Family of Services, to help immigrant community residents who are at risk of deportation plan for their children's long-term care. The program will offer a series of Parents’ Rights Workshops along with training and certification for neighborhood-based kinship and foster parents prepared to serve as sanctuary families for children whose parents face removal from the U.S.
Chhaya CDC has been awarded $30,000 to support efforts to strengthen their intersectional, rights-based curriculum approach throughout all programs, as well as organizing and outreach work promoting economic justice and safety for South Asian women in Queens.
City Bar Justice Center was awarded $30,000 for its Anti-Harassment Project 2.0, which will focus on assisting low-income women, girls and gender-fluid individuals in New York who are facing discriminatory harassment and bias based on their membership in a vulnerable class including communities of color, Muslims, and LGBTQIA.
Community Voices Heard (CVH) will spearhead a No Cuts to SNAP/TANF mass outreach campaign, funded by a $60,000 grant, that will bring together a coalition of public assistance recipients, community groups, service providers, labor and faith leaders to push back against proposed federal funding cuts to these key safety net programs.
Damayan’s $60,000 grant will support and mobilize their Filipino immigrant worker members including safety and emergency planning for individuals, the organization of a Community Defense Team and rapid response networks to monitor and address increased immigration enforcement tactics in immigrant neighborhoods, and creating and implementing a physical and digital security plan for the organization.
IGNITE’s $60,000 grant will support for the expansion of the NYC IGNITE Fellowship, which trains high school- and college-aged women to step up and own their fair share of political power through civic education, exposure to elected women, skill building, and a peer network of women who support each other’s leadership aspirations.
Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement House (Riis Settlement) received an award of $60,000 to facilitate greater community interaction and advocacy around pressing issues that are affecting the lives of the low-income immigrant participants, specifically the threats and actions imposed by the new administration to decrease immigration benefits and remove and separate immigrants from their homes and communities.
Jews for Racial and Economic Justice will use its $30,000 grant to support efforts to strengthen its strategic communications efforts, across web development and presence, social media and email outreach, and databases, to increase membership and better organize for social and racial justice campaigns including domestic workers rights, police reform, and anti-islamophobia initiatives.
A $30,000 grant will allow the Mixteca Organization to support the #NoNosVamos/#HeretoStay campaign, a multifaceted effort that was launched after the 2016 Presidential election to respond to the emerging needs of Latin American immigrants, specifically the spike in demand for Know Your Rights information, legal services, and emotional support.
Movement for Justice in El Barrio (Movement) will launch a new immigrant rights organizing project to defend the rights of all immigrants in El Barrio, supported by a $30,000 grant. Movement will share their experiences and analysis with others through a broad public education campaign and contribute to regional and national efforts to impact immigration policy reform.
National Mobilization Against Sweatshops’ $30,000 award will fund the Immigrant Women Workers Support Project and will strengthen its organizing, legal assistance, and leadership training work that unites both low-wage citizen and immigrant workers across home health care, factories, restaurant/food service, childcare, and other caregiving industries.
A $60,000 grant to The New American Leaders Project (NALP) will fund the New American Women Leaders project, which provides support for NALP leadership programs that prepare first and second-generation women to run for elected office and other civic leadership positions.
New York State Tenants & Neighbors (Tenants & Neighbors) received $30,000 in funding to support its Cuomoville: Unaffordable New York campaign to enact local solutions that defend against proposed federal cuts to the HUD budget and advance a statewide housing agenda through movement building and policy advocacy.
Sakhi for South Asian Women (Sakhi) will use its $30,000 award to embark on a strategic planning process to redefine its programmatic goals, and streamline its work to effectively meet the changing needs of its Muslim, South Asian, and Arab constituency and community; and to elevate the organization’s voice in building national dialogue on the impact violence across the spectrum of society.
The Audre Lorde Project (ALP) received a $30,000 grant to support an organization-wide strategic planning process that will help strengthen its vision, mission, and goals over the next three to five years, creating greater impact around issues of safety, discrimination, and economic justice for the LGBTSTGNC community in NYC.
The Center for Anti-Violence Education has earmarked its $60,000 in funding to support its UpStander Program that equips New Yorkers across the five boroughs facing xenophobia, violence and other forms of discrimination with self-defense training, and empowering upstanders with tools to intervene safely using proven de-escalation tactics.
The Urban Justice Community Development Project (CDP) received a $60,000 grant to work in partnership with grantee partner, African Communities Together (ACT), to provide legal defense to African women, girls and LGBT+ immigrants and refugees who are threatened by recent changes in the immigration system. The project will also engage African women and LGBT immigrants as leaders in the movement for humane immigration policies.
Women for Afghan Women (WAW) will use its $30,000 award to fund the New York Afghan Women Rising Program and provide direct services and advocacy for women in NYC’s Afghan, South Asian, and Muslim communities. WAW will address current immigration policies that have instilled fear and confusion in Afghan and Muslim communities by providing immigration information sessions, referral services, and Know Your Rights Trainings.
Higher Heights for America Leadership Fund (Higher Heights), an organization dedicated to harnessing Black women’s political power and leadership potential, was award $60,000 to fund The Leadership Development Project which includes narrative reframing, research, and a leadership development and training model to increase Black women’s political participation.