THE NEW YORK WOMEN’S FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES $2,305,000 IN GRANTS FOR FALL 2013 GRANT CYCLE
Awards 32 Organizations Working To Promote Economic Security and Justice for Women & Families Across NYC
New York, NY – The New York Women’s Foundation (NYWF) today announced a total of $2,305,000 in grants awarded to 32 organizations across New York City as a part of The Foundation’s Fall 2013 grant cycle. This latest cycle of funding rounds out a record grant making year for the Foundation, having awarded a total of $5,250,000 in 2013 – the most amount of grants awarded since NYWF was founded over 26 years ago.
The Fall 2013 grant cycle represents The Foundation’s responsiveness to crises and broad systemic issues, while simultaneously focusing on its mission of promoting economic justice for women and families in New York City. Grant making categories included in this cycle of funding are:
- General Operating and Program Support – one grant totaling $60,000;
- RISE-NYC! (Respond, Inspire, Solve, Engage) – 18 grants totaling $1,200,000;
- Systemic Impact – seven grants totaling $495,000;
- Initiative Against Sex Trafficking of Minors – four grants totaling $300,000; and
- Hurricane Sandy Response and Recovery Fund – four grants totaling $250,000.
Combined, these categories highlight the complexity of addressing the multi-dimensional needs of women, girls and families living at or below the poverty level, and for whom life is complicated by issues of economic vulnerability, physical and sexual violence, and gender discrimination.
This cycle marks the Foundation’s last round of funding within its RISE-NYC! (Respond, Inspire, Solve, Engage) initiative. RISE-NYC! was created in 2009 and driven by the Foundation’s commitment to respond to the increased need of New York City’s women and families during the economic recession. In addition, the Foundation awarded its second round of funding for both its Hurricane Sandy Response and Recovery Fund, and its Initiative Against Sex Trafficking of Minors.
The Hurricane Sandy Response and Recovery Fund was created following last year’s devastating storm. Over a four-year period, the fund will help re-build safety and economic security for women and families impacted by the storm. The Foundation’s Initiative Against Sex Trafficking of Minors was launched in 2012 as a five-year initiative to strengthen efforts that eliminate the sexual exploitation of girls and transgender youth in NYC, and builds shared ground for collective action against sex trafficking of minors.
The complete list of grants follows:
General Operating and Program Support
St. Vincent’s Services $60,000
For its SMART Girls program to promote increased empowerment, personal development/growth, and career exploration among young women residing in the agency’s group homes and foster care facilities. The program aims to empower young women to leave lives free of violence and abuse, and to work towards economic self-sufficiency.
RISE-NYC! (Respond, Inspire, Solve, Engage)
Accion East $75,000
For its New York Women’s Program, which provides low and moderate income women microentrepreneurs with affordable credit and financial education to create, sustain and grow their businesses, generate jobs for community members, and better provide for themselves and their families with stabilized incomes.
Brooklyn Workforce Innovations $70,000
To continue operating its New York Drives program, which provides low-income women with job readiness training and driver’s education courses as a pathway to employment.
Business Outreach Center Network $60,000
For its Child Care Business Development (CCDB) Program, which focuses on disenfranchised neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Queens and Upper and Lower Manhattan. The program provides extensive microenterprise development, financial literacy, business counseling, affordable financing and legal assistance and early child development training to disadvantaged women, people of color, and immigrants in low-income communities.
CHANGERÂ $70,000
To operate a multifaceted direct service program called Community Outreach Program for Education and Empowerment that addresses mortgage, financial, and legal crises faced by homeowners in Brooklyn and Queens.
Community Voices Heard $60,000
To support their Building the Workforce Campaign, which aims to extend the transitional jobs program for public assistance recipients while cutting back the city’s Work Experience Program (WEP), which provides limited compensation and opportunities for education and professional growth.
Grameen America $70,000
For its New York MicroLoan program to provide microloans for women that will enable them to create and sustain small businesses while providing for themselves and their families and contributing to their communities.
Hour Children $70,000
For its Hour Working Women Program to assist formerly incarcerated women with children to secure long-term employment upon their release from prison with the help of job readiness, ESL, skills-building classes, and internships.
Local Development Corporation of East New York $70,000
To continue providing personal and business financial training and counseling to women in Brooklyn to help them become ready for and obtain financing required to start or expand their businesses.
Make the Road New York $70,000
For its Immigrant Women Economic Opportunity Project to provide job placement, adult literacy classes, and income support assistance to low-income immigrant women in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island while building the leadership and power of immigrant women through a civic engagement campaign to elevate policy areas vital to immigrant families.
Mercy Center $60,000
For their Employment Readiness program, a computer technology training and job readiness program that empowers low-income women in the South Bronx to pursue and obtain sustainable employment in office administration.
New York Legal Assistance Group: LegalHealth $60,000
To support the Women’s Stability Project, which provides free legal service clinics for high risk low-income women, particularly pregnant women, new mothers and immigrant women who receive medical care at LegalHealth’s 20 partnering hospitals. NYLAG will also train healthcare professionals on the legal issues affecting these women.
Sakhi for South Asian Women $75,000
To continue its Economic Empowerment Program, which provides culturally appropriate and multilingual crisis intervention and case management for South Asian survivors of domestic violence who seek educational advancement, work authorization, financial stability, and self-sufficiency.
STRIVE/East Harlem Employment Services $60,000
To support their Health & Office Operations and Green Construction Training programs for women, which provides low-income women with skills training and individualized job placement support so they may pursue and obtain employment in the healthcare field.
Upwardly Global $70,000
To continue operating the Women’s Services Program, which helps skilled immigrant women transition from low-paying service industry jobs into professions that utilize credentials from their home countries and provide a living wage benefits.
Urban Upbound (formerly known as East River Development Alliance)Â $60,000
To operate its Financial Fitness Program, which includes comprehensive tenet advocacy, public benefits, and financial counseling services in four public housing neighborhoods in Western Queens, the largest public housing development in the nation.
Violence Intervention Program $60,000
To build the financial independence of survivors of domestic violence through job readiness programming, financial literacy, health and wellness services, computer literacy, life skills development, ESL instruction, tuition support and referrals to GED, college and hard-skills training programs.
Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation $70,000
To continue supporting the Home Based Childcare Microenterprise Program, which trains low-income women to own and operate high quality home-based childcare businesses in the Bronx.
Young Women’s Christian Association of Queens $70,000
For its Women to Work program, which provides home health aide job training and placement to primarily low-income Korean and Chinese female immigrants with limited English proficiency. The home health aides then provide culturally accommodating home health care for a growing Korean senior population in Flushing, Queens.
Systemic Impact
ALIGN: the Alliance for a Greater New York $60,000
For their policy initiative, New York Caring Across Generations, a multi-pronged, community organizing and advocacy strategy to address the challenges of New York City’s growing aging population. This initiative will bring together care providers (who are primarily low-income women) and the communities they serve – the elderly and people with disabilities – to build a collaborative movement focusing on the needs of aging New Yorkers.
A Better Balance $75,000
To strengthen and expand their A Better Balance for Women in the Workforce Campaign in New York City, with the goals of supporting the implementation of expanded paid sick leave legislation and legal protections for pregnant and caregiving workers in New York City. ABB will continue to provide legal advice and counseling as well as advocate for expanding opportunities for employee input into work schedules.
Center for Family Life/SCO Family Services $75,000
For the New York City Cooperative Development Project. The Project will support the scaling-up of the cooperative development initiative by engaging New York City based CBO’s serving low-income, immigrant women to organize worker-owned businesses.
Correctional Association of New York $75,000
For their Reproductive Justice for Women in Prison Campaign, which is aimed at ensuring access to quality reproductive healthcare and advancing reproductive justice for incarcerated women.
Council of Senior Centers and Services $75,000
For their Elder Abuse Initiative, which will improve the policies and service delivery systems involved in preventing elder abuse and providing victims’ services
Empire State Pride Agenda Foundation $60,000
For the Transgender Civil Rights policy initiative, a campaign to bring about substantial social change in the area of transgender civil rights. The multi-pronged campaign – including education, advocacy, consensus-building, community organizing, policy change, and policy implementation/enforcement strategies – aims to dramatically improve the quality of life for transgender and gender non-conforming New Yorkers.
The Participatory Budgeting Project $75,000
For their Participatory Budgeting in New York City Initiative, which will expand the participatory budgeting process to nine New York City Council districts.
Initiative Against Sex Trafficking of Minors
The Arab-American Family Support Center $60,000
For its Anti-Violence Program that focuses on providing preventative and early intervention services to young girls who are at-risk of sexual assault or exploitation, and for advocacy and outreach work on the subject of sexual violence.
Association of the Bar of the City of New York Fund, Inc. (City Bar Justice Center) $80,000
To maintain the impetus on its Trafficking Prevention and Empowerment Program (TPEP), launched in 2012. T-PEP currently operates within its 5-year old Immigrant Women and Children Project (IWC). The goal of the program is to increase the visibility of the crisis of sex trafficking of minors among the legal community (e.g. the judiciary, private bar, law enforcement) and government agencies, train community partners on the issue and provide legal services to trafficked minors.
Equality Now $80,000
For its Engaging Communities to End Trafficking (ECET) program which seeks to create a “zero tolerance” environment for sex trafficking and the commercial sexual exploitation by: (1) educating the public, policy makers, law enforcement, and media, (2) implementing methods of identification and prevention, (3) strengthening accountability laws, and (4) developing survivor leadership.
Girls Education & Mentoring Services (GEMS)Â $80,000
For its long-term Support Services through the NYWF’s Initiative Against Sex-Trafficking of Minors. GEMS’ long-term Support Services are vital to preventing girls and young women from re-entering the commercial sex industry, and empowers them to live healthier, safer, and more economically stable lives.
Hurricane Sandy Response and Recovery Fund
Community Health Action of Staten Island (CHASI) $60,000
To implement HealthLinks, a program that seeks to increase health outcomes of individuals and families impacted by Hurricane Sandy by increasing health insurance enrollment and improving access to medical and mental health care.
Good Old Lower East Side $70,000
To provide direct service and long-term disaster recovery programming to Lower East Side residents to meet their immediate needs surrounding issues of employment, health and well-being, and housing as well as to continue community organizing efforts to promote the readiness of community residents to effectively manage through natural disasters.
Make the Road New York $60,000
To support and strengthen the work of their Sandy Recovery Support Services program. This program, launched soon after Hurricane Sandy hit, utilizes robust outreach and case management strategies to lower the barriers to recover for low-income and immigrant New Yorkers affected by the hurricane.
Urban Upbound (formerly known as East River Development Alliance)Â $60,000
To provide comprehensive employment services for unemployed and underemployed women with a focus on public housing and low income residents in Far Rockaway with the goal of sustainable employment with opportunities for upward mobility.
