The New York Community Trust​​ Announces Latest Round of Grants

Totaling $7.8 Million

Ensuring a fair and accurate 2020 census count, improving conditions for restaurant workers,
merging Brooklyn hospitals. These are just three of the 63 funded projects that will make life
better in New York.

(October 17, 2018) NEW YORK, NY –​​ ​The Trust is committed to helping solve some of New York’s
toughest challenges. For each of the following grants, we offer journalists additional one-page
background memos that detail the problems we’re addressing and our approaches to solving them.
Please contact Amy Wolf at the contact information above for more. Some highlights include:

● Counting All New Yorkers: ​Our ​New York State Census Equity Fund​​ will use
$225,000 to ensure a fair, accurate, and successful 2020 Census by supporting
groups that reach hard-to-count populations, including immigrants, homeless New
Yorkers, and families with young children.

● Green Innovation​​: A $250,000 grant to the​ Urban Future Lab ​at ​NYU Tandon
School of Engineering ​is supporting a competition identifying promising companies
from around the country that can help achieve the city’s sustainability goals. Last
year’s winner was a start-up that helps builders use 3-D modeling to avoid mistakes
that waste resources and money.

● Better Health Through Food​​: With a $98,000 grant, ​Fund for Public Health in New
York​​ is expanding its Pharmacy to Farm Prescriptions program that provides
vouchers for fruits and vegetables as part of treatment for heart disease and high
blood pressure.

● Carving Out New Careers:​​ A third-year grant of $85,000 to ​Woodlawn

Conservancy​​in the Bronx will expand an apprenticeship program in stone masonry
that provides young people from low-income families a pathway to well-paying jobs.

Preparing Young People for Art Schools and Conservatories

The Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund helps gifted young people of limited financial means who
aspire to careers in the arts. Every year, The Trust makes grants to arts training groups for
fellowships in a spectrum of disciplines. Since 1991, our Van Lier Fellowship Program has opened
new, life-changing opportunities to 2,000 students. This year, we are making grants to
pre-professional programs to help young people—especially young people of color—prepare for art
schools and conservatories. This year’s grantees include:

Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation​​, $70,000 for seven young dancers who will study modern dance
techniques.
Brooklyn Youth Chorus Academy​​, $95,000 for intensive vocal training for four high school singers.

Dance Theatre of Harlem​​, $150,000 for six talented dance students ages 12-17 to take intensive
performance classes.

Ghetto Film School​​, $60,000 for 10 African-American and Latino high school students to produce
original films and gain internships in the industry.

Harlem School of the Arts​​, $150,000 to train eight talented students in dance, music, theater, arts
and design.

New York Youth Symphony​​, $60,000 for fellowships to four high school students who will receive
classical training, mentorship, and attend Interlochen Summer Arts Camp.

Pratt Institute​​, $130,000 for design fellowships for five high school sophomores to hone their craft,
develop portfolios, and receive mentorship from Pratt students.

Third Street Music School Settlement,​​ $90,000 to provide private instruction, music theory and
composition training, and conservatory audition prep to four young musicians.

Urban Word NYC​​, $150,000 for literary arts fellowships to prepare eight students to write and
perform their original works.
Healthy Lives

Institute for Applied Gerontology,​​ $300,000 to create the nation’s first continuing-education
program for social workers in palliative care.

Mount Sinai Hospital,​​ $101,000 to provide trauma therapy services to young immigrants, many of
whom are undocumented immigrants, refugees, or survivors of human trafficking.

New York Lawyers for the Public Interest​​, $50,000 to help undocumented immigrants being
treated for serious illnesses apply for immigration benefits and Medicaid to improve their treatment
options and mental health.

New York Stem Cell Foundation​​, $237,000 to determine if stem cells can be used to test potential
treatments for Parkinson’s disease, a first step to enabling human clinical trials.

One Brooklyn Health System​​, $125,000 to facilitate the merger of Brookdale University Hospital
Medical Center, Interfaith Medical Center, and Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, ensuring the
hospitals’ financial sustainability and improving access to health care throughout Brooklyn.

Planned Parenthood of New York City​​, $185,000 to protect reproductive health services for New
Yorkers.
Education
Donors’ Education Collaborative​​, $200,000 for a joint foundation effort to support advocacy for
public education reform.

New York University​​, $557,000 to help teachers use oral storytelling exercises to improve
children’s reading and vocabulary skills and assess students’ progress.

Human Justice

A Better Balance: The Work and Family Legal Center​​, $90,000 for research, advocacy, and a
hotline to help more residents take advantage of New York’s paid family leave law.

Human Services

Children’s Village​​, $150,000 to increase the number of foster children living with relatives and
improve the quality of foster homes.

Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York​​, $80,000 to improve the well-being of homeless
families and children by funding a coalition of 40 organizations working to prevent homelessness,
improve shelter services, and help families transition into housing.

Covenant House New York, ​$150,000 to provide communication and confidence-building skills to
200 staff working with homeless young people.

New Yorkers for Children​​, $100,000 to improve services for poor, pregnant women and families
with young children by using “human-centered design” principles that help develop an understanding
of clients’ habits and needs.

New York University, Silver School of Social Work, ​$262,000 to fill a leadership gap in social
work by training the next generation of leaders in the field.

Jobs and Workforce Development

New York City Workforce Development Fund​​, $200,000 to continue to support joint grantmaking
in workforce development focused on strengthening New York City’s system of services for job
seekers and employers.

Restaurant Opportunities Centers United​​, $75,000 to prepare workers for jobs in the restaurant
industry.

Workforce Professionals Training Institute​​, $200,000 for its NYC Workforce Field Building Hub
that will create a citywide cabinet of employment leaders to coordinate programs and identify
innovations in the field. The Hub also will work to expand available sources of labor market data and
other information to guide investments.

Youth Empowerment
Girls for Gender Equity​​, $100,000 for a civic engagement advisory council led by 24 young women
of color. The council will meet with elected officials, and design advocacy campaigns on police and
criminal justice reform and improving school discipline procedures.

New York On Tech​​, $125,000 to expand a program that teaches coding and web development to
disadvantaged high school students and places them in paid tech internships.

Red Hook Initiative​​, $100,000 to expand an education and employment program for unemployed
young people in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Support for Young Immigrants

During this difficult time for the City’s immigrants, young people often turn to local, immigrant-led
community groups for support. We awarded $1 million to 13 organizations that empower young
immigrants with training in leadership skills, physical and mental health screenings, and
opportunities to engage in policy advocacy.

Youth development programs at ​Academy of Medical and Public Health Services​​,​ Arab
American Association of New York​​, ​Atlas: DIY, Asian American Legal Defense and Education
Fund, Damayan Migrant Workers Association, Global Action Project, ​and​Mekong NYC ​will
empower immigrant youth to become better leaders and advocates. Education organizations
including ​Arab-American Family Support Center​​, ​Flanbwayan Haitian Literacy Project, ​and
Masa ​will promote academic success among English language learners.

Young immigrants in the Bronx, including undocumented children, will have access to ​Terra Firma
health and mental health services, and can get academic enrichment by playing soccer at ​South
Bronx United​​.

Support will not end when students graduate: our grant to ​New York State Youth Leadership
Council ​will fund undocumented immigrants’ campaigns to improve student services on college
campuses.
Arts and Culture

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center​​, $125,000 for events and outreach campaigns to
attract Chinese and Chinese-American audiences to chamber music performances and bring
performances to more diverse audiences.

Dance/NYC​​, $60,000 to research the capacity-building needs of dance groups with budgets under
$1 million, many led by people of color and by artists with disabilities.

Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute​​, $120,000 to help the Pare Lorentz Film Center produce
short films for students on the history lessons of the 1930s and 1940s.
Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art​​, $81,000 to develop an arts program for
students, teachers, and coordinators in the City’s public school Gender and Sexuality Alliances.
Civic Affairs

NYC Service,​​ $80,000 for a program called City Service Corps, which connects out-of-school,
out-of-work young adults with job training and temporary placement in understaffed city government
agencies.
Strengthening Communities

IMPACCT Brooklyn​​, $65,000 to help low-income Brooklyn residents participate in affordable

housing lotteries.

Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City​​, $100,000 to promote homeownership for
limited-equity cooperative homeowners.

Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation,​​ $75,000 to support the growth of worker-owned

cooperative businesses in Washington Heights run largely by immigrant women.

Promoting Sustainability

Climate Group U.S., ​$100,000 to persuade large companies to meet all their energy needs with
renewable sources.

Friends of the Earth​​, $100,000 for efforts to reduce diesel pollution in ports in Savannah, Georgia
and Charleston, South Carolina.

Midwest Environmental Justice Network,​​ $125,000 to help low-income communities in the

Midwest address environmental health and climate challenges.

National Wildlife Federation​​, $100,000 to protect wildlife and advocate for fair labor practices in the
emerging offshore wind-farming industry.

New York City Audubon Society,​​ $60,000 to promote the installation of green roofs beneficial to
birds and pollinators.

Urban Sustainability Directors Network​​, $100,000 to help at least five cities meet their climate
goals through clean energy, energy-efficient building design, and sustainable transportation.

Waterfront Alliance​​, $100,000 to develop new standards for building resilient waterfront cities and
create continuing education courses on waterfront design.

Special Projects

New-York Historical Society​​, $200,000 for an American history and civics course to prepare over
2,000 green card holders to pass the citizenship exam.
Reclaiming Appalachia Coalition,​​ $150,000 to generate economic development in Appalachia by
restoring abandoned mine lands and facilities.