NYCT Makes Over $800K in Grants to Respond to Federal Policy Changes
Grants will help 49 groups innovate and advocate for better health care, a healthy environment, effective legal services, and more.
(New York, February 7, 2017)-The New York Community Trust's board approved $7.6 million in grants to help 49 nonprofits bolster the arts, educate English-language learners, and improve elder care. Funded projects will also help those at risk of deportation; get more electric vehicles on New York's roads; and improve care for kids with serious mental illnesses outside the hospital.
The Trust is investing more than $800,000 to respond to federal policy changes and advocate against harmful changes to programs. Two key organizations-the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities and New York Housing Conference-will advocate for maintaining safety net programs, including Medicaid and SNAP (food stamps), and affordable housing programs. Another grant will help Planned Parenthood's advocacy campaign to protect access to reproductive health services in New York State. And in an era of fake news, The Trust is supporting New York's leading public radio station, WNYC, for local reporting.
This is The Trust's first round of grants for 2017, following its highest-ever $50 million total to 412 nonprofits last year from its competitive grants program. (Overall, The Trust gave away almost $200 million in 2016).
"At a time when programs to improve health care, support the social safety net, and safeguard the environment are under assault, The Trust is working for the well-being of all New Yorkers," says Patricia Jenny, The Trust's vice president for grants.
(For each of the following grants, The Trust offers journalists one-page background memos that detail the problems we're addressing and our approach to solving them. Our CLOSER LOOK sections below are a glimpse of this resource.) Please contact Amy Wolf at aw (at) nyct-cfi.org or (212) 686-0010 x234 for more.
RESPONDING TO FEDERAL POLICY CHANGES
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities will use $300,000 to monitor and measure the effects of federal policy and budget changes on New York.
Human Rights First will use $261,000 to provide legal help to immigrants in deportation proceedings.
New York Housing Conference will use $60,000 to monitor changes to federal housing policies and budgets that affect New York City.
Planned Parenthood of New York City will use $185,000 to protect access to reproductive health services for New Yorkers.
HEALTHY LIVES
Columbia University's School of Social Work is using $80,000 to train clinicians to work with parents and pregnant mothers with mental illness.
Legal Action Center will use $150,000 to advocate for expanded substance-use disorder treatment in New York State and monitor the latest reforms to Medicaid.
MFY Legal Services will use $75,000 to expand a medical-legal partnership that helps children discharged from psychiatric hospitalization get outpatient care and other services to prevent them from cycling in and out of the hospital.
New York Hall of Science is receiving $50,000 to expand a program for children with autism, which provides special access to exhibits with trained staff and family workshops.
Weill Cornell Medicine will receive $125,000 for clinical trials in the city's first center for women with hard-to-treat triple-negative breast cancer.
HELPING CANCER PATIENTS GET TREATMENT
More than 39,000 New Yorkers have cancer, making it the City's second leading cause of death. Even for those with insurance, the costs of pain medication, transportation to and from treatment, child care, legal fees, put a financial strain on the patients and their families. For about a dozen years, The Trust has made more than $10 million in grants to help these four groups collectively address the needs of cancer patients.
Cancer Care will use $700,000 to help cancer patients who are low-income people of color, immigrants ineligible for health insurance, or working patients enrolled in high-deductible insurance plans, get financial aid.
God's Love We Deliver will put $100,000 to work providing cancer patients with meals, nutrition fact sheets and education, and counseling.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center will use $100,000 to help immigrant children and adults with cancer get treatment.
New York Legal Assistance Group will use $100,000 to help people with cancer get treatment.
BEYOND MEDICAL CARE FOR CHILDREN
Though low-income children in New York have some form of health care, they still face hunger, poor housing conditions, and stress at home. These so-called social determinants of health have long-term effects on a child's physical, social, and emotional well-being. The Trust is working with the United Hospital Fund and the Altman Foundation to help pediatric practices connect with community agencies to offer better care.
Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center will use $20,000 to strengthen the Department of Family Medicine's partnership with two social service agencies.
Mount Sinai Hospital will use $20,000 to strengthen the Pediatrics Associates at Mount Sinai's partnership with three social service agencies.
NYC Health + Hospitals will receive $20,000 to strengthen the Gouverneur Hospital's partnership with four social service agencies.
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital will use $20,000 to strengthen the Charles B. Rangel Community Health Center's relationship with the Northern Manhattan Perinatal Partnership.
NewYork-Presbyterian/Queens will use $20,000 to strengthen the Theresa Lang Children's Ambulatory Center's and the Jackson Heights Family Health Center's work with Public Health Solutions.
Northwell Health will use $20,000 to strengthen Cohen's Children's Medical Practice work with the Child Center of New York.
United Hospital Fund of New York will use $20,000 to bring the partnerships listed above together to learn from experts and each other.
OLDER ADULTS
Archcare will use $75,000 to expand a volunteer exchange program for elders in the Bronx. The program uses a TimeBank model that enables older adults to provide and receive services such as help with shopping, and friendly visits.
Jews for Racial and Economic Justice will use $150,000 to advocate for long-term care financial assistance for older adults.
Queens Community House will use $40,000 for recreational and social services for gay and lesbian elders in Queens.
EDUCATION
Hunter College of CUNY will use $1,550,000 to help teachers provide high-quality reading instruction in East Harlem elementary schools with high numbers of English language learners.
Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility will use $220,000 to reduce suspension of black students at City schools and improve academic performance.
Scholarship Plus will use $300,000 to help promising young New Yorkers earn a college degree without going into debt.
CLOSER LOOK: Most New York students graduate college owing nearly $30,000 for loans. Our grant will help Scholarship Plus provide money to these students and negotiate with financial aid offices to eliminate student debt. The grant will also help provide one-on-one mentoring, networking opportunities, and summer internships, to ensure that our city's students thrive.
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
Citizens Committee for Children of New York will use $200,000 to reform New York's juvenile justice system. It will continue efforts to raise the age of criminal responsibility so that 16- and 17-year-olds aren't treated as adults.
City University of New York will use $265,000 to expand paid internships for City University technology students in the public and private sectors.
Girls for Gender Equity will use $65,000 to support an advisory council led by young women of color that helps city government and philanthropic institutions better address the needs of this under-represented population.
NYC Service will put $60,000 to work training unemployed young adults and help them find a job, improve office etiquette, and fill-out job applications.
BUILDING OUR WORKFORCE
Ocean Bay Community Development Corporation will use $130,000 to equip residents with limited formal education with job skills and leads to jobs in geographically isolated Far Rockaways, Queens.
Structured Employment Economic Development Corporation (SEEDCO) will use $150,000 to improve chances of success for working families moving from City shelters to permanent housing in the Bronx.
HUMAN JUSTICE
The city cannot afford to provide a lawyer for every person with a legal problem. For many low-income New Yorkers, this means heading to court without representation. How effective are other types of legal help, like paralegals, or computer-generated court forms? New York needs research to determine if alternative programs produce better results. The grants below look into different forms of legal services and their outcomes.
Her Justice is using $130,000 to examine the results of different types of legal help for women to determine those most successful.
National Center for Access to Justice will use $75,000 to help civil legal services programs gather data to measure success.
HUMAN SERVICES
University of Texas will use $300,000 to improve the capacity of the social work profession to address the problem of homelessness.
CIVIC AFFAIRS
Common Cause Education Fund will use $90,000 to examine laws, regulations, and policies that control the disposition of public assets in New York City.
New York Public Radio will use $100,000 to report on issues in the region, and to help listeners better prepare for upcoming local and state elections.
ARTS AND CULTURE
As rents for artists' studios and rehearsal space continue to rise, artists leave New York or don't have time for their craft. Meanwhile theaters and other cultural institutions struggle with back office administrative support. To remain a cultural capital, New York must help artists make art.
ArtsPool will use $160,000, to build a cooperative back office service for arts groups, helping these groups share administrative tasks and lower costs.
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council is putting $50,000 to work developing a plan to provide space and residencies to additional visual and performing artists.
Pregones / Puerto Rican Traveling Theater will use $140,000 to expand a multidisciplinary arts residency program in the Bronx and Manhattan.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Change Capital Fund will use $100,000 to help community development groups create strategies to reduce poverty and track results.
Cooper Square Community Development Committee & Businessmen's Association will use $60,000 to coordinate a coalition of groups protecting tenants from disruptive construction practices.
Long Island City Partnership will use $50,000 to make Long Island City easier to navigate for visitors and residents.
CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT
Center for Large Landscape Conservation will use $60,000 to develop an internationally recognized legal designation for conservation corridors that connect protected areas.
Clean Water Fund will use $75,000 to reduce pollution from Port Newark and Elizabeth Marine Terminal.
CLOSER LOOK: The Port Newark and Elizabeth Marine Terminal is the nation's second busiest container port. But when the Bayonne Bridge is complete, container traffic through the port is expected to double; pollution will increase significantly, degrading the air quality of the New York metropolitan area. With help from The Trust, the Clean Water Fund will advocate for zero-emission technologies, oppose expansion plans that would remove 16 acres of Staten Island's Arlington Marsh, and help shoreline communities increase their climate resilience.
Environmental Advocates of New York will use $150,000 to build public and political support for New York State's climate goals.
Meridian Institute will use $100,000 to support a regional dialogue on carbon pricing in the Northeast.
Sierra Club Foundation will use $300,000 to get more electric vehicles on the road in New York State and New England.
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York will use $125,000 for an awards program promoting excellence in nonprofit management.
ABOUT THE NEW YORK COMMUNITY TRUST
The Trust is committed to promoting healthy lives, promising futures, and thriving communities for all New Yorkers. We are the community foundation for New York City, Westchester, and Long Island-with a permanent endowment dedicated to improving our region through strategic grantmaking, civic engagement, and smart giving. Through our competitive grants program, made possible with money left to us by bequest, we fund programs that improve the lives of all New Yorkers, especially those most in need.